Introduction In addition to the responsibilities
In addition to the responsibilities common to all parents, parents of color assume the
responsibility of the racial-ethnic socialization of their children, i.e., preparing their children to
cope with potential negative encounters based on race and ethnicity, and foster healthy racial and
ethnic identity exploration and commitment (Brody et al., 2006; Else-Quest & Morse, 2015;
Hughes, 2003; Stevenson & Arrington, 2009). As greater opportunities arise for children of color
to interact with the multicultural world outside of their families, parents’ socialization regarding
race and culture plays a significant role in educating their children about how to negotiate
various contexts characterized by racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity (Hughes et al., 2006).
According to Hughes and Chen (1997), racial-ethnic socialization involves the transmission of
messages that (a) teach children about the history, culture, and heritage associated with their race
and ethnicity (cultural socialization), (b) promote their awareness of racial discrimination,
prejudice, and potential barriers (preparation for bias), and (c) emphasize the need for caution in
interracial interactions, specifically with members of the dominant group (promotion of
mistrust).
To date, numerous studies have elucidated the positive influence of racial-ethnic
socialization practices in families of color. Previous literature on racial-ethnic socialization
indicated its effects on the development of children’s positive racial-ethnic attitudes (Sinclair,
Dunn, & Lowerey, 2005), healthy ethnic identity (Hughes et al., 2006), positive mental health
and behavioral outcomes (Caughy, O’campo, & Muntaner, 2004), and higher academic
achievement (Neblett, Philip, Cogburn, & Sellers, 2006). These results have directly refuted a
prevalent concern of parents of color, that talking about race with their children only has negative
effects on children of color, such as causing them to become hypersensitive toward and
distressed about race-related issues.
Statement of the Problem
Although extant research has illuminated the positive impact of racial-ethnic
socialization, there is a scarcity of research investigating the racial-ethnic socialization practices
among different racial and ethnic minority groups and thereby, delving into the culture-specific
nature of racial-ethnic socialization practices. A study that investigated parental racial-ethnic
socialization of three racial/ethnic minority groups, i.e., Japanese American, African American,
and Mexican American, found that Japanese American and African American parents emphasized
adaptation to society more than Mexican American parents (Phinney & Chavira, 1995). This
study also reported that African American parents tended to discuss racial prejudice more with
their children, compared to other racial groups (Phinney & Chavira, 1995). These differences
among parental socialization practices can be understood in terms of the systemic influences
within each group, as society holds different attitudes towards each racial and ethnic group.
Moreover, results of another study about three different ethnic groups, i.e. adolescents of
Mexican, Chinese, and European backgrounds, indicated that Chinese adolescents reported
receiving more messages from their parents that promoted mistrust of people from other ethnic
groups compared to their peers with European backgrounds (Huynh & Fuligni, 2008). In
addition, Huynh and Fuligni (2008) found that adolescents from both Mexican and Chinese
backgrounds reported greater cultural socialization and preparation for bias messages than their
peers from European backgrounds. The research of Hughes et al. (2006) demonstrated a similar
result to Huynh and Fuligni’s (2008) research regarding Asian families’ cultural socialization.
That is, Asian parents were more likely to report cultural socialization (e.g., promoting cultural
pride and knowledge) and less likely to report racial socialization (e.g., talking about race and
racial discrimination) compared to African American parents, although Asian-origin parents did
practice racial socialization (Hughes et al., 2006). A greater focus on cultural versus racial
socialization may be due to the relatively short history of Asian American immigration in the
United States and Asian American parents’ strong value of preserving cultural heritage.
Additionally, Asian parents may feel uncomfortable going against the ideology of colorblindness
to engage in conversations about race and racial discrimination because such conversations
involve an acknowledgment of oppression and disadvantages as a minority.
The aforementioned studies highlight group differences regarding parental racial-ethnic
socialization practices, suggesting that further examination of various racial/ethnic groups’
differential experiences of racial-ethnic socialization is warranted. In addition, studies should
provide a wealth of information about the unique cultural and social factors that influence the
family dynamics of each racial group, which may, in turn, influence their racial-ethnic
socialization practices. Families of color are different in various ways, including their history
and culture; therefore, the role of cultural values, minority status, racial identity, and various
systemic concerns should be taken into consideration when studying their racial-ethnic
socialization practices (Phinney & Chavira, 1995).
Moreover, most of the literature on parental racial-ethnic socialization practices has
focused on African American families (e.g., Crouter, Baril, Davis, & McHale, 2008; Hughes &
Chen, 1997; Marshall, 1995; Neblett et al., 2006; Stevenson & Arrington, 2009), while only a
few studies have attended to the experiences of Asian Americans. As members of a minority
group in the United States, Asian Americans have experienced a long history of discrimination
based on race and ethnicity (Hwang & Goto, 2009). Yet, despite the prevalence of racism and
racial discrimination toward Asian Americans, Asian Americans have been excluded from the
critical discourse on race and race-related social problems, due to the common misconception of
Asian Americans as the model minority. The myth of the model minority portrays Asian
Americans as hardworking and intelligent, overcoming racial conflicts and discrimination to
achieve a higher degree of socioeconomic success than other racial groups (Gee, Ro,
ShariffMarco, & Chae, 2009; Miller, Yang, Farrell, & Lin, 2011; Wong & Halgin, 2006). As a
result, Asian Americans’ challenges and struggles in resolving race-related difficulties, as well as
their parental socialization efforts regarding race and ethnicity, remain unrecognized and
understudied.
Given the paucity of research on Asian American racial socialization, rigorous research is
needed to investigate the unique roles and various facets of racial-ethnic socialization in Asian
American families (Tran & Lee, 2010). However, Asian Americans are a broad and
heterogeneous group, encompassing a variety of racial experiences of people from diverse
backgrounds. For example, the racial experience of a Japanese American as an Asian American
may be vastly different from that of a Filipino American, due to the differences in phenotypic
traits, ethnic cultures, and stereotypes endorsed by the dominant society. A number of previous
studies on the racial experiences of Asian Americans have not distinguished the differential
racerelated experiences of East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian subgroups.
Additionally, it is essential to examine the familial transmission of cultural values, racial
experiences, and patterns of racial-ethnic socialization practices when studying racial and ethnic
minority families. For example, culture plays a significant role in families of East Asian origin
and the interdependent and collectivistic nature of East Asian culture highly influences their
racial-ethnic socialization practices (Benner & Kim, 2009). In addition, parents play a central
role in providing their children with information about racial status, racial discrimination,
cultural values and traditions within East Asian American families (Hughes et al., 2006). Studies
should focus on a distinctive cultural group within the Asian American category to delineate the
idiographic experiences of Asian Americans in relation to their race and culture and to examine
various sociocultural factors that may influence their racial-ethnic socialization practices within
the family system.
Moreover, due to the changing demographic trends in the United States and growing
societal and familial level interests in resolving intergenerational dissonance related to racial and
cultural differences, it has become essential to acknowledge the similarities and differences
among the racial experiences of first-generation Asian immigrants and those of second or later
generations. To date, there has been a dearth of research that has attended to the generational
differences and intergenerational influence of Asian American parents’ racial experiences and
racial-ethnic socialization practices.
A study of a multiracial group on the interactive effect of parents’ prejudice and their
children’s identification with their parents indicated that parents’ racial attitudes were
significantly related to their children’s implicit prejudice, especially when the children highly
identified with their parents (Sinclair et al., 2005). Also, Demo and Hughes (1990) demonstrated
in their study of Black Americans that active parental racial-ethnic socialization practices shape
children’s strong Black racial identity. The results of these studies demonstrate the parental
transmission of racial experiences and the influence of racial-ethnic socialization on children’s
racial attitude and identity. However, a limited amount of literature has focused on Asian
American families.
Also, no previous research has paid close attention to the intergenerational patterns of
racial-ethnic socialization practices within Asian American families. There is a need for research
that examines the intergenerational transmission of cultural values and racial attitude through
racial-ethnic socialization in order to better understand family dynamics regarding cultural and
racial communication within Asian American families.
Additionally, studies should examine the types of messages parent and child exchange in
their racial-ethnic socialization in order to understand the influence of racial-ethnic socialization
in the family system. The messages that parents send to their children about race and ethnicity
can be in various forms. For example, given the multidimensional nature of racial-ethnic
socialization, parents’ racial-ethnic socialization can be intentional and explicit—such as a
mother verbally instructing her child about their own race and other races—or unintentional and
happenstance—such as a child observing his parents looking disturbed when seeing an interracial
couple in the neighborhood. Parents can communicate race-related values or beliefs without
explicit conversations about race, regardless of parental awareness or understanding of their race-
related communications; even a total absence of discussion about race within a family can
potentially communicate certain values and beliefs about race. However, racial-ethnic
socialization has been primarily conceptualized as the explicit verbal messages that family
members exchange regarding race and ethnicity (Yasui, 2015). The psychological literature on
racial-ethnic socialization, to date, has rarely addressed the unintentional and implicit messages
communicated by parents of racial minorities, which may significantly influence children’s
thoughts about race and ethnicity, as well as about living in a multiracial society.
A review of the 41 measures of racial-ethnic socialization among ethnic minority families
demonstrated that existing measures are largely focused on explicit behaviors and verbal
messages and that few measures have captured the affective, implicit, and nonverbal domains of
the racial-ethnic socialization process (Yasui, 2015). It is critical to further investigate implicit
racial-ethnic socialization messages, especially in a study of Asian American families, because
Asian American families may prefer indirect and nonverbal communication methods (Park &
Kim, 2008). Park and Kim (2008), for example, examined cultural values and communication
styles among European American and Asian American college students, with 141 (67.14%) East
Asian Americans in their Asian American sample. Their results indicated that Asian Americans
used indirect communication more frequently and held a less open communication style than
their European American counterparts, which was explained by Asian Americans’ higher
adherence to emotional self-control and Asian American cultural values (Park & Kim, 2008).
Given these findings, it is imperative to contextualize the unique sociocultural factors that
influence implicit, as well as explicit, racial-ethnic communication of East Asian American
families.
Purpose of the Study
The present study sought to fill the gap in the literature by qualitatively examining East
Asian American mothers’ experiences of racial-ethnic socialization in their families. Because
Asian Americans are a heterogeneous group, with great within-group variability among cultural
practices, this study sought to focus on East Asian American families’ racial-ethnic socialization
practices to understand in depth the experiences of a more homogeneous group. An in-depth
examination of East Asian American mothers’ racial-ethnic socialization is expected to provide a
better understanding of various sociocultural factors that may influence both implicit and explicit
racial-ethnic socialization practices of East Asian American families. The study was particularly
interested in investigating parents’ thoughts about their intergenerational racial-ethnic
socialization experiences by asking about the intergenerational differences of East Asian
American parents’ racial-ethnic socialization practices, as well as the potential influence of the
previous generation on current racial-ethnic socialization practices of East Asian American
families.
The present study used phenomenological qualitative research methods within the
framework of family systems epistemology (Stanton, 2009) and critical race theory (Solorzano &
Yosso, 2002), using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA; Smith & Osborn, 2008). A
review of the extant research on racial-ethnic socialization has indicated that there is a plethora
of quantitative studies on the current topic. Within quantitative studies on racial-ethnic
socialization, numerous versions of assessment tools have been used, incorporating varying
definitions of racial-ethnic socialization among diverse racial and ethnic groups to find
generalizable results about racial-ethnic socialization practices (Yasui, 2015). However,
quantitative analysis alone does not provide insight about what influences individual families’
unique experiences of parental racial-ethnic socialization and what aspects of such practice are
salient in the lives of East Asian American families. Using a qualitative approach within a
constructivist-interpretivist paradigm, this study aimed to further explore unique sociocultural
factors that influence the racial-ethnic socialization of East Asian American families by giving
voice to East Asian American parents and offering them the opportunity to reflect on the
phenomenon of racial-ethnic socialization based on their own perspectives and lived experiences.
A phenomenological study is suitable for this research in that sense, because it allows a detailed
examination of participants’ perception, reflection, and emotion around their racial-ethnic
socialization experiences (Smith & Osborn, 2008). It was anticipated that the phenomenological
approach situated within a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm would provide in-depth
understanding of the racial-ethnic socialization practices of East Asian American families, with
an understanding that racial-ethnic socialization is constructed by participants’ various social
environments (Ponterotto, 2005).
Research Questions
The following four primary research questions guided the present study:
1. How did East Asian American parents of young children experience the racial-ethnic
socialization practices of their parents?
2. How do East Asian American parents of young children experience their own
racialethnic socialization practices with their child(ren)?
3. What are some internal and external influences on the implicit and explicit
racialethnic socialization practices of East Asian American parents of young children?
4. How do East Asian American parents of young children communicate racial-ethnic
socialization messages with their child(ren), as compared to their understanding of
their own parents’ communication with them about race and ethnicity?
Definitions of Constructs
Racial socialization has been defined as “verbal and behavioral messages transmitted to
younger generations for the development of values, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs regarding the
meaning and significance of race and racial stratification” (Scottham & Smalls, 2009, p. 807). In
the present study, integrating definitions from previous research, racial-ethnic socialization was
defined to incorporate: (a) all affirming or devaluing messages that parents communicate with
their child(ren) about their own and others’ race and ethnicity (e.g., racial or ethnic pride, racial
discrimination, and prejudice); (b) intentional and unintentional exposure to racial and/or racist
imagery or conversation; (c) teaching of their own or others’ racial and ethnic values, customs,
beliefs about the racialized world; and (d) responses to and silences about racerelated
experiences.
Significance of the Study
Asian Americans in the United States are the fastest growing population, and it is
projected that their numbers will reach nearly 10% of the U.S. population by 2050 (Choi, 2014).
However, there has been limited research examining the experiences of Asian Americans, and a
paucity of research attending to the race-related experiences of Asian Americans. Asian
Americans in the United States have had unique racial experiences, due to particular stereotypes
(i.e., model minority myth) and societal expectations imposed on them. Because of this, studies
should draw attention to their racial experiences, focusing on the unique set of sociocultural
factors that may play a role. This study sought to target Asian Americans of East Asian descent
(i.e., China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan), and their shared experiences of racial
prejudice and stereotypes under the dominant society’s broader classification of “Asian
Americans.” Although there is much variation among the different ethnic groups within the East
Asian American group, they adhere to shared Asian cultural values shaped by their Confucian
heritage, such as familial interdependence and collectivistic ideals (Benner & Kim, 2009). These
cultural values emphasize interpersonal harmony in parent−child relationships, providing a rich,
contextual understanding of their intergenerational interactions within the family system.
Focusing on a distinctive group that shares a number of cultural elements allowed further
exploration of the influence of race and culture in familial socialization practices.
Additionally, it is essential to learn about the intergenerational transmission of racial
experiences within the East Asian American family system. Racial-ethnic socialization involves
intergenerational transmission of racial and cultural messages and practices. These messages and
practices are interpreted through the parents’ and children’s own lenses of experience as first-
generation and second-generation Asian Americans. Thus, in-depth investigation of the process
of racial-ethnic socialization may provide comprehensive insight into how the differences in
racial experiences (e.g., recognition and understanding of racial experiences, racial identity
construction, and acculturation process) shed light on the complex nature of familial interactions
about race and culture. By providing such a focus, this study filled a gap in the literature, leading
to a better theoretical, contextual understanding of East Asian American families’ racial-ethnic
socialization practices.
Chapter 2
In this chapter, I provide an overview of my two overarching theoretical frameworks,
namely, a family systems perspective and critical race theory. Next, I review the literature on the
race-related experiences (e.g., racial discrimination) of Asian American individuals and their
families in the United States. Here, I include studies that focus on the general Asian American
population, in addition to studies that target individuals of East Asian origin, given the paucity of
research that specifically targets East Asian Americans’ racial-ethnic socialization. Additionally,
the literature on Asian American families’ racial-ethnic socialization will be reviewed, with a
specific emphasis on implicit and explicit modes of racial-ethnic socialization practiced by Asian
American parents. Finally, the literature on colorblind ideology will be reviewed.
Theoretical Framework
Family Systems
This study employed a family systems perspective in understanding Asian American
families’ intergenerational transmission of race-related messages. Family systems theory
considers individuals as an integral part of the system within the interpersonal (i.e., parent-child
relations, familial support) and macrosystemic (i.e., racial/ethnic culture, power dynamics, social
hierarchies) contexts (Stanton, 2009; McGoldrick, Gerson, & Petry, 2008). Individual factors,
such as one’s feelings, thoughts, and actions, are not isolated factors; rather, they reflect
interactions among various components of the system. A family systems perspective brings all
three domains together, i.e., individual, interpersonal, and macrosystemic factors, emphasizing
their reciprocal interactions in order to conceptualize the complexity of individuals’ real-life
experiences.
According to Stanton (2009), systemic thinking employs six key concepts: (a)
complexity, (b) reciprocity, (c) living open systems theory, (d) self-organization, (e) adaptation,
and (f) social constructivism and cognition. Although distinct concepts, these six concepts are
also intricately interconnected.
Complexity involves understanding of the intricacy of human interactions within the
system, which negate simplistic and rigid thinking (Stanton, 2009). Rooted in Chaos theory, the
interaction of various individual, interpersonal, and macrosystemic factors leads to unexpected
and unpredictable changes in one part of the system, which subsequently impact all other parts of
the system (Stanton, 2009; Stanton & Welsh, 2011).
Reciprocity refers to the “mutual, interactive, non-sequential effects that occur between
persons or circumstances” (Stanton, 2009, p.15). According to systemic epistemology, linear
“cause and effect” thinking does not capture the simultaneous and mutually interdependent
nature of the interactions among multiple factors that influence and are influenced by one another
(Stanton, 2009) (e.g., mother and child influencing each other concomitantly in their
conversation about race as they respond to one another). Stanton and Welsh (2011) noted that
reciprocity does not necessarily mean an equal contribution in interactions, as these can vary due
to power dynamics that modulate the relative influence (e.g., parent vs. child, culturally dominant
group vs. cultural minority group).
Next, the idea of living open systems places emphasis on a continuous exchange of
resources (e.g., ideas, energy, and information) within the system in order to survive (Stanton,
2009). Family systems theory posits that systems are not closed and limited, allowing
individuals to reach out to create a new route of interactions within the systems to support
themselves and others.
Self-organization refers to the constant reorganization of the pattern of systems at
individual, interpersonal, and macrosystemic levels, reflecting the changes in behaviors and
structures in interactions (Stanton, 2009). Self-organization may happen constantly, especially
when racial minority parents try to understand their own racial experiences and help their
children understand the dynamics of the racialized society through racial-ethnic socialization.
Adaptation allows individuals, interactions, and systems to be resilient and adaptable to
situational changes (Stanton, 2009). For example, racial minority parents who have experienced
and acknowledged racism in the society may decide to actively prepare their children for healthy
coping in response to potential racial discrimination.
Lastly, social constructivism and cognition refer to the idea that all humans are active
participants in their own life in their interaction with their environments (Stanton, 2009). With
the aforementioned six key concepts, family systems theory provides a holistic way to explore
the dynamic nature of individual-environmental interactions, parent-child communication, and
racial experiences of minority families in a racialized society.
One family systems phenomenon this study was interested in investigating was how
familial experiences affect individual and family functioning in subsequent generations. A
review of various family systems studies indicated that individuals’ own experiences during
childhood influence their childrearing practices and attitudes as parents (Van Ijzendoorn, 1992).
Looking at the intergenerational transmission of parenting across three generations (i.e.,
grandparents, parents, and their children), Van Ijzendoorn’s review of the literature reported that
certain parenting behaviors and attitudes, such as interaction patterns and intrafamily attitudes,
may be acquired from previous generations as a result of modeling, coaching, and other cognitive
and psychological processes within the family system. Moreover, Almeida, Wethington, and
Chandler (1999) noted the intergenerational transmission of emotions within the family system
on a day-to-day basis. Research data from 117 married couples showed that emotional conflict
and tense interactions created within the marital dyad predicted subsequent parent-child
emotional tensions. This result suggested that parents’ emotions were intergenerationally
transmitted to their children, which, in turn, affected children’s relationship with their parents.
This emotional transmission may affect East Asian American families in more powerful ways,
given the unique, shared experiences of life challenges as immigrants and racial minorities.
Similar to the transmission of emotions within families, previous literature on families
has investigated parent-child relations as a type of social interaction in which the family’s
sociocultural values are intergenerationally transmitted (Park, Kim, Chiang, & Ju, 2010; Yi,
Chang, & Chang, 2004). Intergenerational transmission of cultural values is essential to studying
East Asian American families, especially when examining parents’ socialization practices with
their children, because parents’ cultural value orientation influences how parents interact with
their children (Park et al., 2010). For Asian families, parenting practices are deeply rooted in
values of collectivism, interdependence within the family, and filial piety (Park et al., 2010).
Although parental influence may decline when children begin to spend increasing amounts of
time with their peers (Steinberg & Morris, 2001), the values of collectivism and family
interdependence emphasize continual ties between parents and their children (Benner & Kim,
2009). Additionally, for East Asian American families, the cultural value of filial piety reinforces
family cohesion and interdependence between parents and children, encouraging the younger
generation of people to respect their elders (Cheung, Lee, & Chan, 1994). Thus, East
Asian culture emphasizes individuals’ learning from their families. In addition, when it comes to
parental socialization regarding race, ethnicity, and culture, parent-child communication is a
major source of information for children (Hughes et al., 2006). Children’s self-concept,
personality, and racial identity are heavily influenced by the extent to which they interact with
their families (Demo & Hughes, 1990; Sinclair et al., 2005). Moreover, in times of stress,
including stress associated with racial discrimination experiences, East Asian Americans,
regardless of their generational status, are more likely to seek support from their family than
from outside sources, due to East Asian families’ collectivistic values and the concerns of
intergroup harmony and losing face (Kim, Li, & Ng, 2005). As such, from an early age, parents
play an integral and pervasive role that lasts throughout their children’s lives.
For East Asian American families, intergenerational transmission of sociocultural values
cannot be explained without examining the influence of immigration on families. In a typical
immigrant family, two sets of cultural values (e.g., independence and interdependence), from the
mainstream and ethnic cultures, coexist in the family system. Oftentimes children learn about
mainstream cultural values by directly experiencing them in their interactions with others outside
their family and ethnic culture. On the other hand, children from a very young age are likely to
acquire their ethnic cultural values through their parents and relatives in a familial context.
However, as school-aged children begin to spend more time outside the home, they may have
fewer enculturation experiences compared to their acculturative interactions with the mainstream
culture. This imbalance in cultural exposure and learning can create intergenerational family
conflict due to different worldviews and interpretations of culture (Kwak, 2003).
Intergenerational cultural differences and differential rates of acculturation within the
family system are what make the study of intergenerational transmission within East Asian
families more complicated (Kwak, 2003). That is, intergenerational transmission of parenting
practices and attitudes, emotions, and cultural values may vary depending on each family’s
contextual factors. However, whether or not adult children carry over the exact same parenting
behaviors and attitudes of their own parents, their socialization experiences with their parents
cannot be ignored. Hence, a family systems perspective provides a framework to understand
how the family system intergenerationally influences, if not replicates, individuals’ childrearing
practices, parenting values, and attitudes, considering the family’s own unique contexts and the
interplay among individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors.
In regard to familial influences of parenting practices, it is important to note that the
intergenerational transmission of race-related messages may be bidirectional (Hughes et al.,
2006; Nagata & Cheng, 2003). In a study of 444 Chinese American families, Benner and Kim
(2009) examined the influence of parental experiences of racial discrimination on their children
and found that racial-ethnic socialization messages were more common in the family when
children experienced discrimination and talked about their experience with their parents. The
results suggested that racial-ethnic socialization in the family system is triggered not only by
parents’ experiences of discrimination and their conscious choices to practice racial-ethnic
socialization, but also by children’s personal experiences of discrimination and their willingness
to discuss their experiences with their parents. Additionally, parents’ explicit and implicit
socialization messages may or may not be interpreted the way parents originally intended,
especially in ethnic minority or immigrant families, because parents and their children may or
may not share similar role expectations in the home. Marshall (1995) compared African
American parents’ racial-ethnic socialization practices with their children’s learning from their
parents. The study indicated that children were more likely to state that their parents did not
teach them anything about race and ethnicity, whereas parents were more likely to report that
they taught about potential racial barriers and physical differences (Marshall, 1995). The results
depicted the complexity of parent-child communication about race and suggested that parents’
struggle with racial-ethnic socialization practices may influence children’s learning from and
reactions about parental racial-ethnic socialization practices in the family system.
Critical Race Theory
In addition to a family systems perspective, critical race theory (Solorzano & Yosso,
2002) serves as a conceptual framework for this qualitative study. Critical race theory was
generated by scholars of color in response to the White privilege and systemic racism following
the civil rights movement (Howard-Hamilton, 2003). Matsuda (1991) viewed critical race theory
as:
The work of progressive legal scholars of color who are attempting to develop a
jurisprudence that accounts for the role of racism in American law and that work toward
the elimination of racism as part of a larger goal of eliminating all forms of
subordination. (p. 1331)
Solorzano and Yosso (2001) introduced five themes that form the basic perspectives of critical
race theory in education: (a) the centrality of race and racism and its intersectionality with other
forms of subordination, (b) the challenge to dominant ideology, (c) the commitment to social
justice, (d) the centrality of experiential knowledge, and (e) the interdisciplinary perspective of
critical race theory.
The first theme of critical race theory is the centrality of race and racism. Critical race
theory acknowledges that race and race-related issues are permanently ingrained in our society.
Therefore, we should discuss race and then move beyond discussions of race to talk about racism
when defining and explaining individual experiences, especially those of racial and ethnic
minorities. Additionally, critical race scholars emphasize the intersectionality of race and
racerelated issues with other forms of subordination, such as gender and class discrimination
(Solorzano & Yosso, 2001).
The second theme of critical race theory is challenging dominant ideologies, such as
objectivity, meritocracy, colorblindness, and equal opportunity. According to critical race
theorists, dominant ideologies systematically disadvantage people of color, further benefiting the
dominant group (Solorzano & Yosso, 2001). Using critical race theory and qualitative research
methods, this research will challenge the traditional ideologies regarding race and racism against
Asian Americans, such as colorblindness and model minority stereotypes, by foregrounding race
and racism in the research on racial ethnic socialization of East Asian Americans.
The third theme of critical race theory is the commitment to social justice in order to
eliminate racism and other forms of oppression. Critical race scholars emphasize a conscious
effort in our society to empower underrepresented minority groups (Solorzano & Yosso, 2001).
Thus, the current study seeks to support East Asian Americans by giving voice to their
racerelated experiences, and how the racial-ethnic socialization practices used with their children
have built understanding of their racial experiences as parents.
The fourth theme of critical race theory is the centrality of experiential knowledge of
racial and ethnic minorities in understanding and analyzing race and racism in our society
(Solorzano & Yosso, 2001). Critical race theory recognizes the legitimacy and critical nature of
the experiential knowledge of people of color and encourages the use of methods such as
storytelling, narratives, biographies, and family histories (Delgado, 1989). This framework
offers researchers a way to understand the lived experiences of people of color and empower
those who have been silenced and marginalized (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002).
The last theme of critical race theory mentioned by Solorzano and Yosso (2001) is the
interdisciplinary perspective, utilizing the interdisciplinary knowledge from ethnic studies,
women’s studies, sociology, history, law, and other fields to better understand racism and other
forms of oppression pervasive in our society. Incorporating knowledge from Asian American
psychology and history, this study aims to further examine the racial-ethnic socialization
experiences of East Asian American parents within a sociocultural and historical context, with a
deeper understanding that various macrosystemic environments construct racial-ethnic
socialization.
My overall goal in using critical race theory to frame this qualitative investigation of East
Asian American parents’ racial-ethnic socialization practices is to understand the role of race and
racial discrimination in East Asian Americans’ intergenerational family interactions centered on
race, ethnicity, and culture. By using critical race theory as a conceptual framework, the current
study centralized the influence of race and racial-ethnic socialization practices in understanding
East Asian American families. Critical race theory informed this study’s examination of how
East Asian American family members influenced one another in their race-related experiences,
by understanding that these experiences may be related to not only culture but also systemic
discrimination.
Review of Literature
Racial Experiences of Asian Americans
Racism in the United States is commonly dichotomized as a “Black and White” issue.
This dichotomy, however, obscures the oppressive experiences of Asian Americans, which have
continued throughout their immigration history since the nineteenth century. Similar to
immigrants from other continents, Asian immigrants were drawn to the United States by the
allure of employment opportunities and the chance to escape from challenging economical and
political conditions in their homelands. However, Asians have faced discriminatory laws (e.g.,
the Chinese Exclusion Act and Asian Exclusion Act) that barred immigration from Asian
countries (Ng, 1998). Also, over 110,000 Japanese Americans were subjected to forced
internment during the Second World War (Sue, 1973).
In the present day, East Asian Americans continue to be targets of racism and oppression
in the United States. There has been an increase in reports of physical violence, intimidation,
threats, as well as microaggressions against Asian Americans (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, &
Torino, 2009). Additionally, a number of empirical studies have highlighted the deleterious
effects of racism and racial discrimination on the physical and psychological health and
wellbeing of Asian Americans. For example, Hwang and Goto (2009), in their study of 107
Asian American college students, which included 71 (66.35%) East Asian American students,
found that perceived discrimination was associated with increased risk for psychological distress,
suicidal ideation, anxiety, and depression. Also, Juang and Alvarez (2010) studied a sample of
181 Chinese American adolescents and their parents to determine the link between racial
discrimination and adjustment issues, as well as the effect of family cohesion on the link. Their
research found that racial discrimination was related to poorer adjustment in terms of loneliness,
anxiety, and somatization (Juang & Alvarez, 2010). That is, Chinese American adolescents’
experiences of racial discrimination were directly related to their psychological difficulties,
which, in turn, might increase depressive symptoms and decrease self-esteem (Juang & Alvarez,
2010). Juang and Alvarez (2010) also found that greater family conflict exacerbated the negative
effects of discrimination and greater family cohesion buffered the negative effects of
discrimination, highlighting the familial influence on East Asian American adolescents’
experiences of discrimination. Additionally, according to a study of 2,095 Asian Americans
regarding their lifetime suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts, high levels of perceived
discrimination were associated with suicidal ideation, as well as suicidal attempts (Cheng et al.,
2010).
Self-reported experiences of racial discrimination are inherently limited because it is
impossible to objectively determine if biased actions and judgments are made as a result of racial
distinctions. Also, participants’ self-report of racial discrimination may depend on their
awareness and acknowledgment of racial inequality in our society. The results of the
aforementioned research may have only been able to capture a limited aspect of the phenomenon
of self-reported racial discrimination; however, the significance of their results still demonstrates
the clear relationship between the experience of racial discrimination and psychological and
physical health of Asian American individuals.
Experiencing daily racism and racial discrimination is not exclusive to Asian Americans;
rather, it is a pervasive phenomenon confronting all racial minority groups. However,
researchers have argued that Asian Americans’ experiences of racism are distinct from those of
any other racial groups because Asian Americans’ experience of discrimination is oftentimes
minimized or perceived to be less severe than it is for other racial minority groups (Lee, 2003;
Liang, Li, & Kim, 2004). Due to the model minority myth, i.e., the preconceived notion of Asian
Americans experiencing socioeconomic and educational successes at a higher level compared to
members of other racial groups (Gee et al., 2009), there has been a lack of attention at the
systemic level on Asian Americans’ experiences of racism, racial discrimination, and other
psychological difficulties stemming from their minority status (Sue, 1994).
Research on the model minority stereotype has firmly refuted the validity of the
stereotype (Li, 2005; McGowan & Lindgren, 2006); however, the stereotype persists and
continues to negatively influence the Asian American population (Choi, 2008). Results from two
focus groups with 17 Asian American young adults, which included 5 East Asian American
young adults, suggested that the model minority stereotypes sustained by Asian Americans, as
well as non-Asian Americans, place additional stress on Asian American young adults (Lee et al.,
2009). Gupta, Szymanski, and Leong (2011) also studied the relationship between
internalization of the model minority stereotype, psychological stress, and help-seeking attitudes
of 291 Asian American adults, of whom 53% were of East Asian descent. The results indicated
that a higher endorsement of the model minority stereotype about the self was related to higher
levels of psychological and somatic symptoms. Taken together, studies on the model minority
stereotype have suggested that the endorsement of positive stereotypes can be just as deleterious
to one’s psychological health and well-being as the endorsement of negative racial stereotypes.
Gupta et al.’s (2011) study also demonstrated the negative effect of the model minority
stereotype endorsement on Asian Americans’ help-seeking attitudes. The researchers found that
those who internalized the model minority myth were less likely to seek psychological services,
possibly due to their misconception that all other Asians are well adjusted and have no problems.
A study by Kim and Lee (2014) also supported the results of Gupta and colleagues (2011). Their
study of 106 Asian American college students, which included 66 students of East Asian descent,
demonstrated that the endorsement of positive Asian stereotypes, as well as the belief that Asian
Americans do experience more success compared to other racial minority groups, were inversely
related to help-seeking attitudes. The model minority stereotype encourages Asian Americans to
conform to mythical expectations that they are to achieve high educational, occupational, and
economic success. The stereotype places pressure on Asian Americans, which may lead to
feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt when they fail to meet these expectations (Kim & Park,
2008).
Besides the systemic neglect of Asian Americans’ experience of racism and the negative
influence of the model minority stereotype, Asian Americans also strive to focus on their
successes and accomplishments in order to avoid family shame (Sue, 1994). This phenomenon
may result in fewer reports of racism, racial barriers, and other adjustment difficulties, in addition
to lack of conscious awareness of racially charged incidents (Sue, 1994). Moreover, as Goffman
(1963) explained, Asian Americans may experience pressure to distance themselves from the
stigma associated with their racial group. As a result, they may try to assimilate to the dominant
culture in order to de-identify with their own racial group and minimize race-related issues. Pyke
and Dang (2003) interviewed 184 Asian Americans, which included 85 Korean
Americans and 99 Vietnamese Americans, about their use of the label “FOB” (“Fresh Off the
Boat”) and the term “whitewashed” to examine the dynamics of internalized racism. The
qualitative data indicated that Asian Americans used these words to denigrate fellow Asian
Americans as “too ethnic” or “too assimilated” (Pyke & Dang, 2003). Respondents stated that
they used the label “FOB” with negative connotations of being “outdated” (Pyke & Dang, 2003,
p. 158), “ridiculous looking” (Pyke & Dang, 2003, p. 158), and “the typical Asian” (Pyke &
Dang, 2003, p. 158), who is “nerdy” (Pyke & Dang, 2003, p. 158) and only socializes with other
Asians. However, their use of the term “whitewashed” was more varied and contradictory. More
assimilated respondents often regarded “whitewashed” as a positive status, reflecting their pride
as accepted members of White society, which helped them resist being identified with negative
racial stereotypes (Pyke & Dang, 2003). On the other hand, other respondents used the term
“whitewashed” to derogate more assimilated Asian Americans who “forgot their roots” (Pyke &
Dang, 2003, p. 160) because it is impossible for them to racially assimilate to the mainstream
White Americans (Pyke & Dang, 2003). The study results demonstrated Asian Americans’
unique experiences of internalized racism as a result of continued systemic racism and racial
discrimination against Asian Americans in the United States and their struggle in dealing with
racially charged experiences.
Family Experiences of Racial Discrimination
One of the most important contexts to consider when examining Asian Americans’
experiences of racism is family. Family members’ experiences with racial discrimination and the
stress associated with these experiences, especially those of parents, influence their
communication regarding race, ethnicity, and culture within the family system, which, in turn,
influence their children’s ability to cope with discriminatory encounters in the future (Benner &
Kim, 2009). Research consistently demonstrates that racial discrimination on a group level, in
addition to discrimination on an individual level, is prevalent against Asian Americans in the
United States (Lee, 2003; Ying, Lee, & Tsai, 2000), which suggests a possibility of vicarious
experiences of discrimination among Asian Americans. However, there has been limited
research examining the influence of others’ experiences of racial discrimination on individual
Asian Americans, especially within the family system (e.g., Benner & Kim, 2009; Caughy et al.,
2004; Juang & Alvarez, 2011). Very few studies have illuminated the intergenerational
influences of race-related experiences in Asian American families, possibly reflecting the
empirical results of the lower rate of parents’ communication regarding race and racial
discrimination to their children in the Asian American community (Hughes et al., 2006). Despite
lack of communication regarding race in general, Benner and Kim’s (2009) longitudinal study
based on a sample of 444 Chinese American families showed that Chinese American parents’
experiences of racial discrimination were associated with more parental racial-ethnic
socialization practices. The research outcome paralleled similar results of parents’ discrimination
experiences leading to racial-ethnic socialization practices within non-Asian families (Crouter et
al., 2008; Hughes et al., 2006; Hughes & Johnson, 2001).
Additionally, Alvarez, Juang, and Liang (2006) studied the relationships among racial
socialization, racial identity, and perceptions of racism, with a sample of 254 Asian American
undergraduate students, of whom approximately 50.8% were of East Asian descent. The results
indicated that explicit discussions about race and racism were positively related to participants’
perceptions of racism, while other aspects of racial socialization, such as number of ethnic
studies courses taken and racial composition of their social environments, did not significantly
predict their perceptions of racism. That is, conversations about race and racism with significant
others, such as family members and friends, may play a significant role in Asian Americans’
understanding of their racial experiences and preparation for future race-related incidents.
The aforementioned studies have argued that parents’ experiences of racial discrimination
were linked to their children’s greater perception and awareness of discrimination. These
findings may make it seem as if parental experiences of racial discrimination function as a
psychological stressor for their children, possibly sensitizing them to their own discrimination
experiences. However, parents’ experiences of discrimination and their communication with
their children regarding race and racism may allow their children and other family members to
find various coping strategies and protective resources in the face of racial oppression (Lee,
2003). With a greater understanding and awareness of racial injustice and inequality that are
pervasive in society, Asian American children may seek out community or peer support from
other racial and ethnic minority groups. They also may be able to find support from their own
racial and ethnic communities, strengthening their ethnic identity and enhancing their sense of
connectedness with their racial and ethnic groups. A study of 84 Korean American college
students demonstrated that ethnic identity pride could function as a protective factor that
moderated the effects of racial discrimination on depressive symptoms (Lee, 2005).
Racial-Ethnic Socialization
In an effort to understand ways to prevent the negative effects of racial discrimination,
scholars have focused their research on finding various protective factors that can promote
resilience among Asian Americans, such as ethnic identity (Lee, 2005; Noh & Kaspar, 2003;
Yoo & Lee, 2005), nativity status (Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2008), in addition to family support.
Studies have indicated that parent-child communications about race and ethnic culture are central
components of family interaction in racial minority families (Hughes et al., 2006; Sinclair et al.,
2005). The transmission of information regarding race and ethnicity from parents to their
children is called racial-ethnic socialization. The term originated from the racial socialization
practices within African American families, in which parents strived to instill hope in and
promote high self-esteem to their children in the face of racial barriers and discrimination
(Hughes & Johnson, 2001). On the other hand, the terms, ethnic socialization and cultural
socialization, have been used more frequently to describe the experiences of other racial groups,
such as Latino and Asian families, in the face of pressure to assimilate to the dominant culture in
the United States (Knight, Bernal, Garza, Cota, & Ocampo, 1993). Recent studies have used the
combined term of racial-ethnic socialization because all people are members of at least one racial
and ethnic category, and parents’ delivery of messages regarding race and culture cannot be
easily distinguished, due to the interconnected nature of racial and ethnic experiences in minority
families.
Racial-ethnic socialization may be consciously or unconsciously and verbally or
nonverbally communicated to children by their parents (Vargas & Koss-Chioino, 1992).
However, prevailing models of familial racial-ethnic socialization have been largely based on
conceptualizations of explicit and deliberate communication of verbal messages regarding race
and ethnicity. For instance, Hughes and Chen (1997) developed a measure to investigate the
process of verbal racial-ethnic socialization of African American parents with children 4 to 14
years old. The explicit verbal behaviors, such as talking, teaching, or explaining, had three
general components: (a) teaching of African American culture, (b) preparing children for
experiences with prejudice, and (c) promoting out-group mistrust. Tran and Lee (2010) adopted
the scale of Hughes and Chen (1997) to assess perceived racial-ethnic socialization practices
from the Asian Americans’ perspective, which supported similar patterns of the conscious display
of racial-ethnic socialization messages in Asian American families. These measures have
provided useful information regarding explicit racial-ethnic socialization practices of various
racial minority groups; however, they did not capture the implicit and indirect socialization
messages that racial minority parents often communicate to their children.
Subtle and implicit modes of racial-ethnic socialization, such as affective and nonverbal
messages (e.g., automatic and spontaneous affective responses, and contextual exposure to race,
ethnicity, and culture without explicit teaching of messages) have not been as fully assessed as
explicit verbal socialization. Implicit racial-ethnic socialization messages, although occurring
frequently outside the parents’ awareness, may have been simultaneously presented with
intentional and explicit messages and may have significantly shaped their children’s racial
identity and sense of belonging to their racial and ethnic groups (Yasui, 2015). Thus, there is a
need to assess implicit parent-child socialization attitudes and practices regarding race, ethnicity,
and culture.
In addition, nonverbal socialization messages are crucial to the understanding of
racialethnic socialization practices within racial and ethnic minority families. Although it has
been challenging to identify key nonverbal socialization behaviors due to the diversity of
nonverbal messages and behaviors, a wide range of nonverbal modes of parent-child
communication, such as spending time with the child, use of facial expressions, parental
modeling, and even noncommunication, has accounted for a large portion of the socialization
process (Juang, Shen, Kim, & Wang, 2016; Marshall, 1995). Due to Asian American families’
preferences for indirect and nonverbal communication (Juang et al., 2016; Park & Kim, 2008), it
is essential to attend to implicit socialization practices that involve parents’ indirect and
nonverbal messages in their interaction with their children regarding race and culture. Given the
importance of implicit messages in Asian culture, Juang et al. (2016) created a parental racial-
ethnic socialization scale appropriate for Asian American families with implicit socialization
items in the scale, focusing on the aspects of parental modeling, such as whether parents moved
away from sitting or standing next to a person of another race. The results of their factor analysis
indicated that Asian American parents do transmit implicit racial-ethnic socialization messages
using modeling behaviors, but not as a means to promote their children’s awareness of
discrimination (Juang et al., 2016). The results may possibly be due to the difficulty of capturing
implicit ways that parents make their children aware of discrimination (Hughes et al., 2006) or
due to the difficult nature of promoting awareness of racial discrimination in their children
(Juang et al., 2016).
Nonetheless, such research efforts in developing a scale that incorporated implicit modes
of racial-ethnic socialization highlights the relevance of implicit socialization practices in
studying racial-ethnic socialization of Asian American parents. Besides scale development
studies, other studies have focused on implicit racial communication. For example, a study of
the intergenerational effects of Japanese American internment on third-generation Japanese
American adult children demonstrated the impact of nonverbal socialization or lack of
communication about the internment within the family (Nagata & Cheng, 2003). According to
Nagata and Cheng (2003), family conversations about parents’ internment experiences were
present, but oftentimes very brief, which can be seen as a continuing dimension of silence and
non-communication. This pattern of communication had its own messages and effect, which
heightened the children’s sense of parental trauma and internment-related discomfort (Nagata &
Cheng, 2003). Based on extant research findings on nonverbal socialization, the current study
seeks to attend to the various types and patterns of racial-ethnic socialization practices within
Asian American families and factors that may influence racial socialization patterns and
attitudes.
Colorblind Ideology
Another factor that may influence East Asian American parents’ view of racial
discrimination and thereby their racial-ethnic socialization practices is colorblind ideology.
According to Gushue (2004), colorblindness refers to an individual’s general unawareness and/or
denial of the social significance of race and the dismissal or depreciation of the existence of
contemporary racism in today’s society. Historically, colorblind ideology has been used by
White individuals to de-emphasize the idea of cultural pluralism, which values the unique culture
of each race and ethnicity (Lewis, 2001). However, colorblindness in fact has its influence on
families of all racial groups because all racial groups are influenced by the White majority
culture and ideology.
Colorblind attitudes can influence parents’ experiences of racial-ethnic socialization with
their children. In parents’ socialization practices, colorblind ideology may leave their children
unprepared for racial realities (Spencer, 1983) by teaching them that they should not notice race
and emphasizing personal and individual efforts of hard work and self acceptance in navigating a
racialized society. The data from the Minnesota International Adoption Project, which examined
families with internationally adopted children, further explained the impact of colorblind
ideology on parental racial-ethnic socialization (Lee, Grotevant, Hellerstedt, & Gunnar, 2006).
According to Lee et al. (2006), parents with lower colorblind attitudes engaged in greater
racialethnic socialization behaviors (i.e., having their children participate in cultural activities
and speaking to their children’s teachers about their adoption history) and tended to have more
discussions about racism and racial discrimination than parents with higher colorblind attitudes.
In other words, parents who hold strong racial awareness and beliefs about the value of
racialization will make conscious efforts to engage in racial-ethnic socialization with their
children.
Colorblind attitudes may also be predictive of parents’ tendency to be silent about race.
The majority of racial-ethnic socialization studies have not focused on the impact of silence,
although failure to mention racial issues also communicates race-related values and perspectives
to children (Hughes et al., 2006). In fact, very few studies have captured the tendency of “not
practicing any racial-ethnic socialization” with children when using pre-existing measures of
racial-ethnic socialization (e.g., Marshall, 1995). However, when parents were asked openended
questions about the socialization strategies they use, a substantial minority reported doing
“nothing” (Demo & Hughes, 1990). Taken together, research on parents’ racial-ethnic
socialization suggests that colorblindness may be an important factor related to parenting
practices regarding teaching of race and racism within families.
Summary
Asian Americans’ experiences of racial discrimination and racial-ethnic socialization have
been overlooked in the past due to the systemic neglect of Asian American racial identity and the
existence of other contributing sociocultural factors, such as the model minority myth and
colorblind racial attitudes. Consequently, only a limited amount of literature has addressed the
race-related experiences of Asian Americans, and there is an increasing need for a more rigorous,
culturally appropriate approach to examining race-related phenomena pertaining to this
community and its subgroups. Previous studies have indicated that family experiences of racial
discrimination, as well as parental racial-ethnic socialization practices, heavily influence
children’s perception of their racial experience and prepare them for future race-related incidents
(Alvarez et al., 2006; Benner & Kim, 2009; Crouter et al., 2008; Hughes et al., 2006; Hughes &
Johnson, 2001). Additionally, some studies have indicated that implicit and nonverbal
racialethnic socialization messages are still influential to Asian American families and children
(Juang et al., 2016; Nagata & Cheng, 2003). Based on the findings of previous research, this
study incorporated a family systems theory alongside a critical race theory and sought to further
investigate the racial-ethnic socialization practices of East Asian American parents, with a focus
on intergenerational influences of race-related experiences, and various modes of socially
influenced racial-ethnic socialization messages communicated within East Asian American
families.
Chapter 3
Method
The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an in-depth understanding of East Asian
American parents’ unique experiences and perceptions about the effects of race, racial
discrimination, and culture in their racial-ethnic interaction with their families. Further, this
study aimed to understand East Asian American individuals’ intergenerational racial-ethnic
socialization experiences by exploring their personal experiences of racial-ethnic socialization,
both as a child and as a parent.
Research Design
This qualitative study implemented a phenomenological approach within a
constructivistinterpretivist paradigm, using a family systems and critical race theory framework,
to bring to light multiple, yet equally valid, realities (Schwandt, 1994 in Ponterotto, 2005) of East
Asian American parents’ family interactions about race and culture. Phenomenology allowed for
a thorough examination of East Asian American parents’ racial-ethnic socialization practices to
understand their unique perspectives and invariant characteristics of the phenomenon
(Moustakas, 1994). In this research, I aimed to broaden my philosophical perspectives and
methodological knowledge about phenomenological research in order to search for participants’
complex meanings of the socially constructed phenomenon of racial-ethnic socialization within
their families.
The constructivist-interpretivist paradigm advocated dynamic interactions between the
researcher and the participants in the research process, in order to gain deeper insights into
participants’ experiences of the studied phenomena (Ponterotto, 2005). Due to its emphasis on
the active role of the researcher in the research process in terms of the data collection and
analysis, reflexivity regarding the influence of the researcher’s values, biases, and overall
personal experiences related to the research topic was necessary (Ponterotto, 2005). Thus,
researcher reflexivity is documented and discussed in this chapter.
Participants
Research participants included six adult mothers of East Asian descent, two with Chinese,
one with Chinese-Taiwanese, and three with Korean backgrounds. Participants currently live in
the United States and serve as a primary caregiver for at least one child, aged five to eight. Each
participant was a second-generation East Asian American and the child of immigrant parents. All
participants were mothers, and all reported having a spouse of the same Asian heritage. All
participants had at least a bachelor’s degree, three had a master’s degree, and one had a doctorate
or professional degree. Participants’ occupations included Editorial Manager, Occupational
Therapist, Homemaker, Marriage and Family Therapist, and
Optometrist. One participant reported a family income between $50-75K and five more than
150K. Four participants identified themselves with Protestant Christianity, one with
Catholicism, and one with no particular religious affiliation. All spoke primarily English with
their children. Three children were five years old, two were six years old, and one was eight
years old. Four children were female, and two were male. All participants reported that they live
in suburban areas: three in Southern California, two in Northern California, and one in North
Carolina. Two reported living in Asian-populated areas, three in racially and ethnically diverse
areas, and one in a predominantly White area.
Table 1
Participant Characteristics
Participants Ethnic
Background
Child
Age
Child
Gender
Geographic Location Family
Income
Lauren Chinese 8 Female Suburban; Asian-populated >150K
Anna Korean 6 Male
Suburban; racially and ethnically
diverse
>150K
Olivia Korean 5 Female Suburban; Asian-populated 50K-75K
Nancy Chinese -
Taiwanese
5 Male
Suburban; racially and ethnically
diverse
>150K
Chrystal Korean 5 Female
Suburban; racially and ethnically
diverse
>150K
Kay Chinese 6 Female Suburban; predominantly White >150K
Note. Participants’ names are pseudonyms.
The children and parents of the participants were of the same race and ethnicity as the
participant. Intergenerational racial and ethnic homogeneity was used as an inclusion criterion
because it was reasoned that the racial and ethnic socialization practices that happen crossracially
and cross-ethnically would be significantly different from the racial and ethnic socialization
practiced within the same race and ethnicity.
East Asian American parents of children aged five to eight were targeted because this age
range is a critical time at which children can accurately recognize racial differences and
communicate about various racial issues (Katz & Kofkin, 1997). When children are between
five and eight years old, they are old enough to think and discuss with their parents about race
and racial issues (Bigler, Averhart, & Liben, 2003; Katz & Kofkin, 1997). Katz and Kofkin
(1997) reported that babies as young as six months can recognize phenotypical differences of
various racial groups, evidenced by their staring longer at the face of a person from a different
racial group than their own. Also, as they reach age five, children can see race as an important
aspect of difference even without race being explicitly discussed with them (Katz & Kofkin,
1997). Moreover, when children reach age six, they can show in-group favoritism toward their
own race and develop prejudice toward people from different racial groups (Vittrup & Holden,
2010). By the age of seven or eight, children have the cognitive ability to reflect on social status
biases based on racial differences (Bigler et al., 2003). Hence, age five to eight was determined
as the ideal time for parents to open a dialogue about race with their children – they are old
enough to fully recognize racial differences and biases, and young enough to be flexible in their
beliefs, which might engender more active parental racial-ethnic socialization.
In addition, second-generation East Asian American individuals who are children of
immigrants were chosen as the target of this study because of their unique adaptive experiences
with balancing multiple enculturation and acculturation processes as they navigate the
mainstream and ethnic cultures (Pyke & Dang, 2003). Second-generation East Asian Americans’
intergenerational racial-ethnic socialization experiences may also provide insight into the unique
realities of their racial identity as Asian Americans and the experience of growing up with
immigrant parents and raising Asian American children in a racialized society.
Because the study aimed to recruit parents from a small and specific group, i.e.,
secondgeneration East Asian American parents of young child(ren) aged five to eight, purposive
sampling was used to obtain detailed information about this relatively homogeneous group’s
experiences of racial-ethnic socialization. Purposive sampling refers to a non-random selection
process in which the researcher decides to find research participants according to the researcher’s
inclusion criteria who are willing and able to provide the information based on their experiential
knowledge (Bernard, 2002). Additionally, snowball sampling was used to maximize the chance
of recruiting participants from heterogeneous ethnic groups within the East Asian American
community (Sadler, Lee, Lim, & Fullerton, 2010).
Individual Interviews
A semi-structured, in-depth individual interview protocol (see Appendix A) was used to
allow East Asian American parent participants to tell their own stories of racial-ethnic
socialization experiences with their families. Individual interviews were optimal for this study
because they helped the researcher to obtain individuals’ personal histories, perspectives, and
experiences of the topic that are not often discussed and explored. The data would not have an
adequate amount of information for analysis if the researcher was unable to encourage
participants to deeply engage in talking about their experiences (Smith et al., 2009). Therefore,
the researcher played an active role in the interview process by listening attentively and probing
participants appropriately in order to obtain more stories from participants’ personal points of
view. The interview questions were created based on a review of literature on Asian Americans’
experiences of racial-ethnic socialization and other sociocultural factors that may influence such
socialization practices.
Additionally, participants were asked to participate in a follow-up interview within two
months of the initial interview, in order to further examine participants’ thought processes after
they had time to reflect on their racial-ethnic socialization experiences (See Appendix D for
follow-up interview guide). This was because it was reasoned that the interview itself could be
thought-provoking for participants, particularly for those who may not have thought much about
racial-ethnic socialization prior to the interview. The follow-up interview was an opportunity for
participants to share with the researcher their reflections since the interview. Participants were
also provided with the opportunity to review the transcribed data in order to offer feedback and
further explanation.
Procedure
Participants were recruited by contacting leaders of professional organizations, regional
parent organizations, East Asian language schools, East Asian daycare placements, after-school
programs, and religious organizations. The leaders of the aforementioned organizations were
asked to forward the information about the study to potential participants who may meet the
inclusion criteria for this study. Additionally, participants were recruited via the researcher’s
social network by requesting individuals to forward the information about the study. Individuals
who have a pre-existing professional and personal relationship with the researcher were excluded
from the study. Once potential participants expressed interest in participating in the study, the
researcher screened them for inclusion using the pre-interview questionnaire (see Appendix B).
Interested individuals who met the criteria for the study were asked to review and sign an
informed consent form, complete the demographic questionnaire (see Appendix C), and schedule
an interview session. Participants were interviewed remotely via Skype, at a time and location
convenient for the participants. Individual interviews were audio-visually recorded upon consent
and the interview data were transcribed by the researcher for analysis. Participants were
contacted again within two months of the initial interview for a follow-up interview and to
provide feedback about their experience in the interview on the topic of racial ethnic
socialization.
Qualitative Analysis
Based on family systems theory and critical race theory, I paid close attention to how the
influence of various individual, interpersonal, and macrosystemic factors manifested in
participants’ experiences of racial-ethnic socialization within their family systems. This involved
asking pertinent follow-up questions during the interviews, related to various factors of family
and race which influenced their racial-ethnic socialization practices. It also included interpreting
the data using concepts from family systems (e.g., intergenerational influence, grandparent
involvement in childcare, family culture, and parent-child dynamics) and critical race theory
(e.g., racism, racial identity conflict, and colorblind ideology), where the data supported such
interpretations. The codes were then based on the explicit themes apparent in the individual
interviews, along with other sociocultural contextual factors (e.g., immigration and political
correctness) that influenced participants’ experiences of racial-ethnic socialization.
Additionally, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith et al., 2009) was
used to analyze the qualitative data. Influenced by ideography and phenomenology, IPA is a
qualitative research approach that allows detailed and in-depth analysis of how individuals
subjectively understand their particular life experiences. Following the
constructivistinterpretivist paradigm, IPA acknowledges that understanding of participants’
experiences is influenced by the researchers’ own experiences, biases, and conceptions about the
studied topic, which necessitates a process of interpretative activity on the researchers’ part
(Smith, Jarman, & Osborn, 1999). The term IPA is therefore used to emphasize the dual facets of
the research approach and the dual effort from both participant and researcher in the data
collection and analysis process (Smith et al., 2009).
The study utilized Smith et al.’s (2009) guidelines for data analysis, using IPA. The first
step of IPA was to read the transcript to ensure that the participant is the focus of analysis. Next,
it was recommended to take notes of the researcher’s observation, thought processes, and overall
experience of the interview in order to bracket them for more in-depth analysis. The second step
involved line-by-line analysis and initial noting of the data, in terms of its descriptive, linguistic,
and conceptual aspects of the participant’s experience of racial-ethnic socialization with his/her
family members. More specifically, descriptive comments captured the content of what the
participants said, noting their key words and phrases. Linguistic comments focused on the
participants’ use of language (e.g., the use of metaphors and repetition of words and phrases,
such as “a certain group of people”). Lastly, conceptual comments included comments that are
more interpretive and theoretical in nature. In step three, the researcher identified the emergent
themes that capture what is crucial and meaningful in the data, emphasizing both convergence
and divergence, commonality and nuance (Smith et al., 2009). This step was when theoretical
concepts framing this study (i.e., concepts from family systems and critical race theory) informed
the identification of emergent themes. After the researcher came up with the list of themes that
were manifest in the interviews, the fourth step involved searching for connections across
emergent themes to organize them into superordinate and subordinate themes. Once the steps
were finished, the researcher moved on to another data set and repeated the data analysis process,
attending to the significance of themes.
Validity
Williams and Morrow’s (2009) criteria for trustworthiness was followed in this study as a
way to attend to the validity of qualitative research within a constructivist-interpretivist
paradigm. According to Williams and Morrow, the trustworthiness of a research study can be
achieved by (a) the integrity of the data, i.e., articulation of methods, sufficient quality and
quantity of data, and the fit between the researcher’s interpretation and the data, (b) balance
between reflexivity and subjectivity, and (c) clear communication of findings. The integrity of
the data was obtained by clearly articulated and documented procedures of recruitment,
interviewing, transcription, and data analysis, which allows for systematic replication of the
study in the future (Williams & Morrow, 2009). Additionally, ensuring an adequate sample size
and the equal inclusion of each participant’s viewpoints and meanings regarding their
racialethnic socialization practices helped address integrity of the data. More specifically, the
transcribed data and themes were shared with the participants for their feedback, and in the
follow-up interview, they were asked for their verbal feedback about the initial interview.
Feedback about their experiences of the interview and accuracy of the data promoted a value of
co-construction and mutual interpretation of the data, expanding the richness of the data. Finally,
the fit between the researcher’s interpretation and the data was established by documenting direct
quotes as evidence in support of the interpretations in the data analysis process (Williams &
Morrow, 2009).
Along with the integrity of the data, the balance between the researcher’s reflexivity and
subjectivity was essential in ensuring the trustworthiness of the study. All research is subject to
researcher bias, due to the researcher’s own subjectivity and chosen paradigms guiding the
research (Morrow, 2005). A constructivist-interpretivist paradigm embraces the active role of the
researcher in the data collection and interpretation; therefore, it is important to pay attention to
the researcher’s understanding of self and the influence of his or her own experiences in the
research process. In order to value the co-construction and mutual interpretation of the data
among researcher and participants, the researcher engaged in an ongoing reflexive process
through self-reflective journaling and asked participants for feedback throughout the research
process to ensure the subjectivity of each participant’s experiences (Williams & Morrow, 2009).
The final component of a study’s trustworthiness, according to Williams and Morrow
(2009), was the clear communication of findings. Interpretation of the data should be clearly
presented by the writing or presentation of the work, easily understood by the reader, and
supported by direct quotes. In addition, social validity (Morrow, 2005) can be established by
clearly revealing limitations in the research and encouraging further dialogue on the studied topic
(Williams & Morrow, 2009).
Researcher Reflexivity
Qualitative research within a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm requires researchers to
be knowledgeable about their personal characteristics, biases, expectations, experiences, and
worldviews about the research topic in order to enhance the accuracy and credibility of the
research findings (Berger, 2015). This process of acknowledging and accounting for the self as a
researcher is called reflexivity. Reflexivity is viewed as a self-appraisal process in research that
allows the researcher to evaluate and acknowledge her positionality within the research, which
may affect the overall research process and outcome (Bradbury-Jones, 2007). This process
directly challenges the positivist view of research as being objective and independent from the
researcher’s view of the topic (Berger, 2015). I, as the principal investigator for this study, used
reflexivity memos throughout this study in order to understand my positionality within this
research topic.
I, Jiwon Yoo, am a female, heterosexual, Korean national with permanent residency in the
United States. I have lived in South Korea for a total of 16 years, 15 years as a child, 1 year as
an adult. I moved to the United States for my education, away from my family in South Korea,
when I was 15 years old, as an early study abroad international student. I have lived in the
United States for 17 years, although I have spent approximately 25% of the time in South Korea
visiting my family and gaining work experience. I have been married to a Korean national,
heterosexual male for seven years, and together, we are raising a two-year-old Korean American
boy.
My personal experiences with racism and racial discrimination in the United States have
impacted my views and emotions as a person of color living and having a family in the United
States, which have cultivated a sense of fear, especially about parenting a Korean/Asian
American child in the United States as a Korean-born mother. Having no previous experiences
of racial-ethnic socialization practices with my parents, I became curious about how other East
Asian families in the United States discuss race, racial discrimination, cultural differences, and
their shared racial and ethnic identities to facilitate mutual understanding about these systemic
issues of race. I wanted to see how family members support each other in their children's process
of building their racial identity and processing their experience as part of a racial minority group.
In the process of developing my ideas for this research, I expected that my personal
experience as a Korean-born individual, living independently and physically distant from my
parents, might provide me with a fresh perspective in looking at how second-generation East
Asian American families talk about race and race-related issues, from an outsider’s perspective.
However, I feel that there is a possibility that my personal experience could become a
disadvantage because I may bring unexamined assumptions (e.g., family members with shared
racial identities and experiences will talk more about them with each other, mothers will have
more parent-child conversations about race), which may or may not necessarily fit with the
reality of East Asian American families in the United States.
As I proceeded with the data collection and analysis, I kept self-reflective journals to
continue to reflect on the presuppositions, biases, and emotional reactions I might have toward
participants’ subjective racial-ethnic socialization experiences with their families and how my
personal life as a parent might affect my research process. Additionally, I endeavored to reflect
on various aspects of interaction with research participants in the data collection process and any
presuppositions I may have from reading the literature (Morrow, 2005).
Chapter 4
Results
The analysis of the 12 interviews with six participants resulted in seven themes: (a) Asian
American Experience of Race and Ethnicity, (b) Racial Ethnic Socialization Experiences as a
Child, (c) Ethnic Socialization Experiences as a Parent, (d) Racial Socialization Experiences as a
Parent, (e) Ambivalence about Racial Socialization, (f) Second Generation Experience, and (g)
Interview Process.
Table 2
Themes and Subthemes
Themes Subthemes
Asian American Experience of Race and Ethnicity
Racial and ethnic salience
Racism
Minimization of race
Racial Ethnic Socialization Experiences as a Child
Ethnic socialization
Lack of communication about race
Promotion of mistrust
Unspoken conflict
Ethnic Socialization Experiences as a Parent
Non-verbal ethnic socialization
Verbal ethnic socialization
Intergenerational family support
(continued)
Table 2, continued
Themes Subthemes
Racial Socialization Experiences as a Parent
Education about race
Preparation for racial bias
Promotion of diversity and inclusion
Intersectionality
Ambivalence about Racial Socialization
Value of racial socialization Negative
perceptions about racial socialization
Political correctness
Second Generation Experience
Impact of immigration
Struggle with ethnic identity
Lack of knowledge about ethnic culture
Struggle with bicultural identity
Interview Process
Fear and discomfort
Post-interview growth
Asian American Experience of Race and Ethnicity
Participants described various experiences associated with their race and ethnicity and
voiced the significance of their race and ethnicity in their lives. The subthemes included: (a)
racial and ethnic salience, (b) racism, and (c) minimization of race.
Racial and ethnic salience. All six participants noted that race and ethnicity have been
salient at one point in their lives as Asian American individuals. Nancy, a Chinese/Taiwanese
American mother, noted that race and ethnicity “come in on a regular basis” for her in her daily
life. Similarly, Anna, a Korean American mother, reported, “I feel like it is always on my mind
and being a minority here and living with an immigrant husband, I just constantly think about it.”
Chrystal, a Korean American mother, echoed a similar sentiment, stating, “Race and ethnicity
come up pretty much every day whether I intentionally think about it or not,” as she described a
heated discussion she recently had with other Asian American parents at her daughter’s school
about the race-based policy for their gifted program admission.
Some participants reported that their race and ethnicity became salient when in interaction
with others who are from different racial groups. For example, Kay, a Chinese American mother,
recalled her experience of racial bullying in her childhood, which led her to realize her racial
difference for the first time. She noted, “I think you don't really realize it until maybe you start
going to school… they say things that you don't quite understand why it is a tease, but it is. Then
you start realizing that, oh, I'm a little different.” Olivia, a Korean
American mother, described the impact of the nationwide unrest following the Ferguson death of
Michael Brown, in addition to having a brother-in-law from a different racial background. She
reported, “That [interracial marriage] was huge, obviously in Korean family. But then, she
(referring to her sister) was pregnant with her son when Ferguson happened. And that was the
first time, for me, that I became more aware of the difficulties in the Black community, which
later spurred on my own cultural identity journey.”
Racism. Participants’ narratives presented a range of racism and racial discrimination
experiences, some with a focus on the impact of racism in their attitudes about their own race and
other racial groups. For instance, Chrystal, a Korean American mother, reported her experience
of “being called Oriental” and Lauren, a Chinese American mother, shared her experience as a
perpetual foreigner due to her outward appearance when she was traveling outside of her Asian
American community. Other participants provided more detailed narratives on internalized
racism, a product of a racial stratification in the racial minority groups, which often causes
discomfort, confusion, and embarrassment among racial minority individuals (Pyke & Dang,
2003). For example, Anna, a Korean American mother, spoke about her being “antiKorean” after
years of experience in racial intergroup segregation throughout her childhood. She stated the
following:
I can't really say exactly, but as I reflect on it, there is just the divide between um,
different cliques. It was like the White girls and the Korean girls. And, also, on top of that, there
were also the FOB Korean girls who didn't speak English. I didn’t want to hang out with them
and I tried to stay away from pretty much all Korean groups. I really just, I guess wanted to be
White. That really had an impact on the type of friends that I made, the type of music that I
listened to, and the social circle that I interacted with. Olivia, a Korean American mother,
explained how she viewed herself in “White America,” stating, “I didn't realize at the time I had
put White as the top. I also saw myself as low and like the bottom… American was White and
Black to me. I was neither one of those, and so the forever foreigner concept was really
ingrained in me.” Kay, a Chinese American mother, also described an incident where she heard
from someone that “all Asians look alike.” Instead of noticing this racially loaded phrase as a
racist comment, she recalled that she tried to “understand the person because she didn’t mean it
the bad way.”
Minimization of race. The last subtheme shared by some of the participants was
minimization of race, which made participants deny their racialized experiences or question the
effect of race on racialized issues, without being fully aware of the race component of their
racialized experiences. Lauren, a Chinese American mother, denied the effect of her race on her
college application process, despite her report of some heated discussions around the influence of
affirmative action among students of Asian descent. She stated, “It was when I first thought
about my race and how it was going to affect me.” However, she later reported, “It was
discussed, and okay, everybody likes a heated discussion every now and then, but it wasn't
anything that changed what I decided to do and how I felt about it.” Lauren’s denial of the
impact of race was also manifested when she tried to understand her daughter’s experience of
racial bullying at school. Lauren stated the following:
She (referring to her daughter) made a comment, even last year, at age seven that, you
know, the English-only kids (referring to students from the after-school program in the
public school system), they are not as nice as the kids in my class (referring to the
Chinese immersion class), you know, they are kind of mean, I don't wanna hang out with
them. So I was like, you know, again, I don't know how much of that is based on, um,
race, but that happened to be about the race.
After acknowledging and denying the race component in her daughter’s experience, Lauren
shared that she told her daughter to “shrug it off” when race-related bullying or teasing happens
again. Kay, a Chinese American mother, also shared her experience of childhood racial bullying,
but negating the racial element of it:
They (referring her peers in elementary school) tease you, like about how you look and
what you eat and stuff, and you start realizing that, oh, I'm a little different… Maybe it is
funny to some people… But I just never felt, um… I don't know. I just think that, maybe
it wasn't a huge deal to me. I just brushed it aside… Just some immature kids.
Racial Ethnic Socialization Experiences as a Child
Participants described their experience of racial ethnic socialization growing up, paying
attention to the types of messages they received from their parents about race and culture. The
following themes were identified: (a) ethnic socialization, (b) lack of communication about race,
(c) promotion of mistrust, and (d) unspoken conflict.
Ethnic socialization. Participants noted their learning from their parents about their
cultural traditions and values growing up. For example, when asked about their experience of
culture-related conversations with parents, Lauren, a Chinese American mother, stated, “[They
taught me about] why certain things are done during the Chinese New Year, why certain colors
are important, cultural traditions and um, why we do certain things a certain time of the year.”
She also reported receiving positive messages from her parents about her Chinese cultural values,
stating, “[They talked about] how industrious Chinese people have been, um, the different
inventions that were, uh, made by Chinese, how, how Chinese have contributed to history.”
Additionally, participants revisited their memories about their parents wanting them to
learn heritage language as a child. Anna, a Korean American mother, recalled, “My parents
really wanted me to learn Korean, but I didn't want to learn it… But my parents kept pushing me
to learn and said that is important and is part of our culture.”
On the other hand, some participants noted limited conversations about race and culture
with their parents growing up. For example, Nancy, a Chinese/Taiwanese American mother,
noted her mother’s lack of involvement in teaching her about ethnic culture, aside from cooking
ethnic food and speaking heritage language at home. She reported her limited experience of
proactive cultural socialization from her parents growing up and stated the following:
I don't think my parents were that gung-ho about their culture. I think my dad more so
probably. But he is also, because of the culture, he sees his role as kind of outside of the
family. So even if he believes that this is the important piece of cultural information to
pass down, it's ultimately up to my mom to pass it down… She thought it wasn’t
important to talk about culture and cultural ethnic background. So she didn’t. Yeah.
Besides, kind of, like, you know, she, she cooked, she's like the traditional housewife so
she cooked Chinese food and spoke Mandarin. But other than that, she didn’t really talk
about culture.
Lack of communication about race. Participants uniformly noted a lack of
communication about race with their parents growing up. For example, Olivia, a Korean
American mother, highlighted her perception of the reason that her parents did not talk about race
with her, stating, “I think they just had no idea, like, there is no reason to talk about it.
They were probably, like, why should we talk about uncomfortable things?” Anna, a Korean
American mother, had a difficult time remembering her communication about race with her
parents growing up and stated, “I can't think of, like specifically anything… Nothing like
seriously enough that comes to my mind. My mom probably, like, talked to me or my parents
talked to me once in a while about it, but it was rare… and nothing really sticks or it's not like a
serious talk.” Chrystal, a Korean American mother who shared her childhood experience of
racial discrimination during the interview, stated, “I don’t really recall having discussions about
race with my parents… I went home and said I want to be White and that the kids don’t want to
carpool with me, but they just said, okay, we won’t carpool with them.”
Promotion of mistrust. Despite participants’ lack of experience in race-related
conversation with their parents growing up, they noted that most of the race-related messages
they received from their parents geared toward promoting mistrust of people from other racial
groups. For example, Anna, a Korean American mother, recalled her mother’s comments about
other racial groups, stating, “My mom would not let us leave our shoes outside because she
thought other people might target our home and rob us because they know we are Asian.”
Participants also noted their experience of hearing stereotypical comments from their
parents about people of other races. For instance, Anna noted:
[My parents] would not want me to hang out with Mexican kids because, you know, they
think that, at least in this area, a lot of them would have kids at young age or drop out of
school… They have stereotypes against Black kids, too, like associating them with
violence and low socioeconomic status. And even for dating, they didn’t allow me to
date anyone outside of Korean.
Kay, a Chinese American mother, also described her father’s negative stereotypes against people
of other races, stating, “I think, to be quite honest, they were a little prejudiced against certain
ethnicities, I should say. Growing up, I always felt that was wrong… It kind of made me not
necessarily listen to what my parents said, like them stereotyping the whole race.”
Additionally, participants also shared their experience of implicit communication with
their parents about people of other races. Lauren, a Chinese American mother, noted, “Chinese
people are not social, they stick together… My parents did not really socialize with folks of other
cultures…And it just tells me something about Chinese people and people who are not Chinese.”
Olivia, a Korean American mother, also shared a similar experience of implicit parental message
about Black Americans, stating, “She [my mom] never said it exactly like that, but
‘Black is bad.’ That was what she was implying.”
Unspoken conflict. Participants’ narratives about their childhood racial ethnic
socialization experiences included their internal conflict with their parents’ prejudice and
stereotypes against other racial groups. Also, participants shared how their perceived filial piety
responsibilities interfered in their communication of these internal conflicts with their parents.
For example, Lauren, a Chinese American mother, noted her confusion about her immigrant
parents’ intentionality in their explicit comments about other racial groups:
It’s hard to know whether or not it was to influence what we would believe or just to tell
us what they wanted to say about it… We never had any conversation about how I
thought about what they told me because, you know, they are the older generations, as an
Asian American, you respect them. They are older, so you just, whatever, that is what it
is.
Nancy, a Chinese/Taiwanese American mother, also shared a similar experience of not being able
to talk about her disagreement with her parents. She said the following:
Everything [he said] was kind of like prejudiced and kind of racist… It was really
annoying to me (laughs). But I mean, he is older, so what can I do. And I don’t feel like
he is necessarily going to change his perspective even if I try to tell him what I think.
Ethnic Socialization Experiences as a Parent
The present research used the term racial-ethnic socialization to incorporate various types
of explicit verbal messages and implicit non-verbal practices – whether intentional or
unintentional – about race and ethnicity. For the purpose of portraying a clear picture of how
racial-ethnic socialization is practiced within the East Asian American families, this analysis
separated the racial and ethnic components of racial-ethnic socialization to dissect the issues
specifically related to each socialization experience. When asked about participants’ ethnic
socialization experiences, the following themes were identified: (a) verbal ethnic socialization,
(b) non-verbal ethnic socialization, and (c) intergenerational family support.
Verbal ethnic socialization. Participants reported their ethnic socialization efforts which
consisted of transmitting verbal messages about cultural traditions and values, as well as
initiating further discussion about maintaining their ethnic culture and identity. For example,
Kay, a Chinese American mother, stated, “I do want her to know her ethnicity and not be
ashamed of it. I talk a lot about why it is important eat Chinese food, to understand a little bit of
Chinese culture, and to know where your grandparents came from.” Participants also often
initiated conversations about the culture-related activities they were involved in. Chrystal, a
Korean American mother who sends her five-year-old daughter to a heritage language program,
shared her experience of having a conversation with her daughter about the importance of
knowing her heritage language. She stated the following:
I try to tell her benefits of speaking Korean that, “Hey, you're Korean. We are Korean.
We need to be proud… And sometimes, when you want to tell me something that you don't want
someone else to know, then you can tell me in Korean and I understand you.” So that was kind
of like our secret language and so kind of making it fun that way. Anna, a Korean American
mother, also noted her experience of talking to her six-year-old son about the importance of
learning the heritage language:
When I try to emphasize, why he should know Korean, I try to emphasize, “Hey, if you
wanna speak to Grandma and Grandpa or make friends there [in Korea] you have to
speak Korean. And if you want to know how to communicate with others from Korea, it
is so important for you to know how to speak it.” I always try to emphasize it like that.
Olivia, a Korean American mother, also spoke about how she dealt with a situation when her
daughter was teased for her ethnic lunch, stating, “I was like, you know, you don't have to not eat
it because it made you feel sad… She (referring her friend) doesn't know what that is and how
delicious that is. I didn’t want her to start avoiding Korean food just because of other people.”
She also reported that she used the family trip to Korea as “a reference point to talk more about
why it is important to know we are Korean even if we only speak English.” She continued: I try
to help her understand, like, we all came from there (referring to Korea), but now we live here
(referring to the United States). This is confusing, but we're still Korean. We have conversations
every so often that, as I try to explain why we were Asian or Korean, but then we only speak
English, you know.
Non-verbal ethnic socialization. Participants reported their behavior-based ethnic
socialization with their children aged five to eight, which consisted mainly of sending their
children to heritage language programs, visiting the country of origin, and providing exposure to
ethnic food. With regard to teaching the heritage language, Lauren, a Chinese American mother,
shared her experience of sending her eight-year-old daughter to an immersion program. She
stated, “The only reason is to learn the language. It's something that I struggled when growing
up… One day a week Chinese school is just not enough to, I mean, I can speak the language, but
I can't read or write.” Chrystal, a Korean American mother, also shared her experience of
sending her five-year-old daughter to a weekly Korean language program. She reported the
following:
You know, I'm sending her to Korean school on the weekend. There have been times
where she says that she doesn't want to go, but I just drop her off there every Saturday…
There have been times I tried to speak Korean to her and she'll just say, ‘Speak regular.’
(laughs). I'm like, ‘What do you mean by regular?’ You know, and she's like, ‘Regular.
Just regular.’
Participants also shared that they made a trip to their country of origin to teach their
children about their culture. Anna, a Korean American mother, stated, “I've only been to Korea
once, and that was when I was five years old… but we've gone maybe three times so far and
we've taken him twice. It is a good way to teach him about his culture, and that he is Korean.”
Olivia, a Korean American mother, also shared her experience of visiting Korea with her child to
show her “where Halmuni (Grandmother in Korean) and Harabuji (Grandfather in Korean) are
from.”
With regard to ethnic food, Nancy and Olivia reported their experience of cooking ethnic
food at home or packing their children’s lunch with ethnic food. Olivia emphasized her wish to
“help her become more aware [of her culture]” by providing more exposure to ethnic food.
Intergenerational family support. When asked about their experience of ethnic
socialization, participants noted the support they get from their parents in teaching the ethnic
culture, values, and language. Nancy, a Chinese American mother, stated how her mother is
helping her son to learn their heritage language:
My mom helps me take care of my kids and she spoke only Mandarin to my son. So it's,
he pretty much picked up both Mandarin and English right at the get-go when he was
picking up language. I also speak Mandarin with my mom, so we really don't shy away
from him, like speaking Mandarin, knowing how to do that.
Olivia, a Korean American mother, also reported, “They (referring to her parents-in-law) both are
obviously, obviously fluent in Korean and then pretty fluent in English. So, they, but they're
trying to teach our kids Korean because I don’t speak Korean.”
Lauren, a Chinese American mother, also highlighted the role of grandparents in child
care, as well as teaching ethnic culture and values, stating, “My parents, um, have a very
significant role in my children's lives. My kids are around them a lot. And they eat Chinese food
together and learn Chinese manners and stuff.” Chrystal, a Korean American mother, shared her
limited knowledge in Korean culture and the help she was getting from her parents and
parentsin-law:
I am a bit laid back about it (referring to teaching Korean culture), like, she will get it. I
just try to remind her… But thankfully my in-laws have shown me grace and my mom,
my parents help my daughter learn Korean culture because they understand that I grew up
here.
Racial Socialization Experiences as a Parent
Racial socialization is defined as messages transmitted from an older generation about the
attitudes and beliefs about race, race-based intergroup interactions, and racial identity
(LesaneBrown, 2006). When asked about participants’ experience of racial-ethnic socialization,
they shared extensively about their practices, beliefs, and attitudes about racial socialization,
more so than about their ethnic or cultural socialization. Four subthemes emerged in
participants’ narratives: (a) education about race, (b) preparation for racial bias, (c) promotion of
diversity and inclusion, and (d) intersectionality.
Education about race. Participants noted their experience of teaching their children
about race, which appeared to be both proactive and reactive in nature. For example, Olivia, a
Korean American mother of a five-year-old daughter, expressed her wish to help her daughter
develop a sense of appreciation for diversity and talked about her proactive gesture to teach her
daughter about race. She stated, “We got her brown dolls, like from the beginning. We never
talked about it explicitly, but we made sure you know, she had exposure to different colored
things.” Olivia also mentioned the conversation she had with her daughter when she expressed
dislike of “Brown people” and her brown doll. She recalled the following:
This was that night (referring to the day when she said, ‘I don’t like Brown people.’), I
was like, ‘Hey, why don't you want to play with Tiana?’ (laughs) And I asked her if that
was because she was brown, and, she was trying to, like, indirectly say ‘Yes, I don't want
to play with her because she's brown’, but she didn’t say it directly, so I pointed it out and
said, ‘It is like when we say we don't like someone because they look different than us.
And it's not nice.’ And I told her it's like if someone were to say, ‘Oh, I don't like the way
you look, so I'm not gonna play with you.’… And I gave her these, like, scenarios of what
it would feel like to be on the other side… And so we refer back to that conversation
often.
Chrystal, a Korean American mother of a five-year-old girl, also reported an incident where her
daughter made comments about phenotypic racial differences. She shared, “She (referring to her
daughter) mentioned, ‘Oh, he has different hair than me!’ So we started talking about everyone
has different hair, different skin colors, and so on. Then she started talking to me about so and so
has curly hair and so and so has yellow hair and things like that.” Anna, a Korean American
mother, also noted her experience of having a conversation with her six-year-old son about Asian
identity and other racial identities beyond Black and White. She indicated that she started the
conversation upon her son’s identification with White. She stated, “So I said, ‘No, we're Asian,’
and he was like, ‘What?’ and he was saying, like ‘My skin is not black. It is white.’ So I
explained to him that it is not just black and white, but, you know, there's also Asian from Asian
culture.” Olivia, in her conversation with her five-year-old daughter, noticed her negative
reaction to racial differences, which made her facilitate further discussion about racial
differences. She stated the following:
We were reading this book called People. I don't know if you've seen it, it's a kid's book,
but it just talks about a variety of people on this planet. Different eyes, ears, hair, like
different beliefs, like, all different things. And my kid pointed the hair part that looked
like dreads and said, ‘Ew!’ And immediately, I was like, ‘Why are you saying ew?’ And it
led into a conversation about, like, again, ‘It’s not kind to point to somebody.’ Just like,
differences in accepting the difference versus judging the difference.
Preparation for racial bias. Participants reported their effort in teaching their child how
to deal with racial discrimination and prejudice. Lauren, a Chinese American mother, recalled
her conversation with her eight-year-old daughter about what she could do during a racial
encounter. Lauren stated, “The first thing I tell her to do is to say to that person, ‘That's not nice.
That's not kind.’” She also reported about the importance of being an advocate, stating, “If you
see someone else picking on other Asian American students because of this kind of situation, you
need to stand up for them and then go tell the teacher who would need to know about this
because that's not okay.” Olivia, a Korean American mother, also noted a conversation about
systemic racism and various racial discrimination incidents in history by talking about and
reading a book about racism with her five-year-old daughter. She shared, “After Charlottesville
happened, we just happened to pick out our Rosa Parks book and there were pictures of the
KKK. I was like, ‘Oh, this just happened in our country, like today, you know, and these people,
they don't like brown people.’ And we had more discussion about it.”
Promotion of diversity and inclusion. Participants voiced their desire to promote
diversity when talking to their children about race and culture. Anna, a Korean American
mother, noted her disappointment when she saw a lack of cultural and racial diversity at her son’s
school, stating, “I don't want him to be kind of stuck in the tiny Korean American group. I want
him to be more open and openminded and have more diverse friends.” Lauren, a Chinese
American mother who sends her eight-year-old daughter to a Mandarin immersion school,
expressed her wish to engage her daughter in an extra-curricular activity to make more friends
from diverse cultural backgrounds. She shared her experience of enrolling her older child in the
Cub Scout program for diversity exposure, stating, “It was very difficult to get them to
intermingle, but I made a huge effort to make that happen because I think that's very important
for my children to enjoy diversity and be openminded.” Also, Chrystal, a Korean American
mother, reported that she made an effort to expand her five-year-old daughter’s toy collections to
“open her eyes to not just Barbies and blonde hair.” She stated, “It is more important that we
embrace our diversity and you know, and to teach our children that you can connect with others
while you have something set apart from others.” Kay, a Chinese American mother, also shared
that she organized playdates for her six-year-old daughter with her friends from diverse cultural
and racial backgrounds to teach her daughter about diversity and inclusion.
Intersectionality. Participants described their racial socialization practices within the
intersection of religion and other cultural factors. Lauren, a Chinese American mother with
Catholic faith, stated the following about her approach to explaining to her eight-year-old
daughter about ways to deal with racial encounters:
I mean, just going back to the fundamentals of treating people the way that we want to be
treated. You know, I draw upon our faith a lot, and that makes the conversations pretty
straightforward and simple… Certain racial groups may behave this way, but it still, it
comes down to one simple thing. People are people, and this is the way that we should
treat people. We have very faith-centered conversations, just like across the board.
Nancy, a Chinese/Taiwanese American mother who identified with Christianity, also
shared her experience of talking to her five-year-old son about skin color differences
based on her religious faith, stating, “We have talked about, like, how God made people
of different skin colors, different hair colors, how we should appreciate the differences.”
Chrystal, a Korean American mother with Christian faith, also reported, “I said we could
all be different, but still we are the same. And we're still human. And you know, we're
Christians. So, I do emphasize that God loves everyone just the same.”
Aside from incorporating religious faith into their racial socialization, Lauren also noted
her approach to helping her daughter understand various cultural factors that influence what
might seem like a racial issue. She stated, “Anytime I bring up race, I also bring up the
socioeconomic factors that are kind of are associated with or might be associated with certain
racial groups and point out the exceptions.”
Ambivalence about Racial Socialization
Although participants shared their unflagging efforts to teach their children about race
and culture, they appeared to have an ambivalent attitude about racial socialization; they
simultaneously presented the understanding of the value of racial socialization, while expressing
concerns about practicing racial socialization. The subthemes that comprised of the theme of
ambivalence about racial socialization included (a) value of racial socialization, (b) negative
perceptions about racial socialization, and (c) political correctness.
Value of racial socialization. Participants spoke positively about racial socialization,
emphasizing its helpfulness in promoting healthy identity. Chrystal, a Korean American mother,
viewed racial socialization as “necessary” and “a great way to instill pride.” Similarly, Olivia, a
Korean American mother, spoke about the importance of verbal communication with her child
about race, stating, “It just can't be about like implicit things like the dolls or making sure we
watched Tiana… We have to actually talk about these things whenever we can.” Kay, a Chinese
American mother, expressed her hopes about having more race-related conversation with her
child, stating, “I just hope that, it is always like hard, race and ethnicity things like that, hard, I
think, to discuss, but I hope that my husband and I at least try to have an open dialogue with our
kids.”
Negative perceptions about racial socialization. Despite their understanding of the
value of racial socialization, participants shared their negative perceptions about racial
socialization. Anna, a Korean American mother, stated, “I don't want him to think about the kind
of thing (referring to racial differences), at such an early age.” Chrystal, a Korean American
mother, also shared a similar sentiment about race-related conversations possibly being “not
child-appropriate.” Additionally, she also stated the following about how her family’s cultural
value might have influenced their race-related conversations:
Yeah, like heavy topics like that (referring to race), I'm not sure if it's cultural thing that
parents, but my parents just didn't discuss heavy topics like that with us… I think that my
parents they didn't like to worry us… And I guess I’m like them when it comes to race
talk. I sometimes wonder if it is better not to talk about it with her (referring to her
daughter).
Lauren, a Chinese American mother, echoed a similar theme about racial socialization, speaking
about how her parents’ adherence to negative racial stereotypes influenced the way she talked to
her child about race:
I own a business, so if I hire someone and it doesn't work out, I point out all the reasons
to my children, as to why this person was not a good fit for us, what I didn't like about,
what this person did. And then I try to keep race out of it. Because I don't want them
growing up thinking that certain racial groups are a certain way. I mean, that’s exactly
what my parents did and I don’t want to instill any negative stereotypes about people of
other races.
She added her sense of discomfort in engaging in conversation with her daughter in regard to
racial phenotypic differences:
I noticed that when she does ask me things about people, usually centered around their,
their appearance and then their race… I think it's, it's really difficult navigating with the
kids. They are much more open, much more fluid, that they're not as locked in. But
when they do notice things, they do clump them into, like racial groups. They just start
with that.
Additionally, Kay, a Chinese American mother, noted her fears about race-related conversation
leading to unnecessary awareness of racial inequality:
I think part of me, maybe, is hesitant to ask her because if it's not in her mind, and it
hasn't happened, and she doesn't have a clue of what that is, I worry if I bring it up, I
might be exposing her to something that hasn't yet happened. Maybe I don't want her to
know. Yeah, even though we do talk about, like, inclusion and race and stuff, I just, I
haven't asked her, like, ‘Has someone specifically made fun of you because you're Asian
or Chinese?’ So yeah, I don't know.
Also, Olivia, a Korean American mother, shared her perception of race-related conversation as
“private,” stating, “I would not [talk about race] with my child if there is somebody else around
us, just because it might offend them. Just the way or the things we talk about.” She also added,
“I find that just, in general, no one wants to talk about race. Even amongst the second
gen[eration].”
Political correctness. Participants, often without awareness, appeared to experience
discomfort in their observation of their child’s use of skin color-based racial labeling, especially
when in public. Additionally, it appeared that some participants, during the interviews, chose to
use the phrase “certain groups” to avoid calling out specific racial and ethnic groups using their
describing terms, such as Black, White, Mexican, Latino/a, etc. Lauren, a Chinese American
mother, spoke about her societal pressure to use politically correct racial terms that she was
taught as an adult:
It was a little uncomfortable at first, but only because I’ve been ingrained in, you know,
the proper politically correct way of identifying certain groups, like, African Americans,
East Asians, Asians. And then you know, to a child, he's either black or brown, she's
white, and you know. We've been trained as adults to not speak in those sort of terms, but
for children, I mean, it is a label that, they haven't been taught the associations with those
particular terms or the appropriateness of certain terms.
Anna, a Korean American mother, spoke about her reaction to her son’s use of the word “black”
in a description of his friend, stating, “He was saying Black and I just feel like, ‘Hey, you don't
have to, you know, say that he is Black or he is this...’ And I just like, teach him like, I didn't
want him to identify a person based on their color of their skin.”
Second Generation Experience
Participants expressed their unique sets of challenges as second-generation Asian
American parents. The four subthemes that comprised this theme were (a) impact of
immigration, (b) lack of knowledge about ethnic culture, (c) struggle with ethnic identity, and (d)
struggle with bicultural identity.
Impact of immigration. Racial-ethnic socialization involves intergenerational
transmission of racial and cultural messages, which are interpreted through family members’ own
lenses of experiences as first-generation immigrants and second-generation Asian Americans.
Participants noted the impact of immigration in their families with regard to the differences in
their view toward different races and cultures. For example, Lauren, a Chinese American
mother, reasoned the differences between her parents’ and her racial ethnic socialization in the
following way:
My parents have had a certain experience with certain groups, oh, I shouldn't say that,
with certain individuals that gave them these negative impressions and made them not as
open. And who knows, maybe if I had, had the same experiences, like not speaking
English well and things like that, I would feel differently as well… Also, I went to
college in a place that was extremely diverse, though it's a learned, you just get along
with, you just learn to get along with people. But having certain, certain viewpoints that
are not open and accepting, you're not gonna get along with people.
Chrystal, a Korean American mother, shared a similar viewpoint about how she understood her
parents’ prejudice and stereotypes against people of other races, focusing on the impact of their
immigration experiences:
I want to say that my parents experienced a lot of discrimination when they, especially in
Georgia. And my uncles were often beat up, you know, for being Asian and being
different… It was their suffering back then. Racism was pretty bad… So I understand
when we talk about race, it might be biased negatively and impacted by their negative
experience by it. Whereas I'm able to have more, more perspective on things because I
experienced a lot of kindness and acceptance from other races and not so much of the
discrimination part.
Additionally, Nancy, a Chinese/Taiwanese American mother, noted her parents having lack of
knowledge about race-related issues in the United States. She perceived that her parents’ lack of
initiation in racial ethnic socialization stemmed from not knowing how to describe and
understand their racial experiences, stating, “It is nice to have a label for it now (laughs), like
microaggressions. Without understanding what that is, we just don’t really, they can’t really talk
about it and talk about it openly.”
Nancy also pointed out her parents’ value of assimilation, contoured by white privilege,
which resulted in lack of communication about heritage culture growing up:
I think my parents were definitely influenced by, like, white privilege and, and like the
value of acculturation, like more acculturated the better you are, which I don't agree with.
And, and as I’m reflecting on it, I think that’s, that’s why they didn’t talk much about the
Asian, Asian Chinese culture.
Similarly, Kay, a Chinese American mother, speculated that her parents’ level of acculturation
was a reason for lack of race-related communication in the family growing up. She stated, “They
are not very traditional, like they are more acculturated, so they didn't really teach us about race
and culture. I think, again, it is just melted to your upbringing in general.”
Lack of knowledge about ethnic culture. As second-generation Asian Americans,
participants noted their experiences of relying on their parents and external resources, e.g.,
language schools and churches, for most education about their heritage culture because of their
perceived lack of knowledge about the heritage culture. Participants described their limited
knowledge about the history, traditions, and values which interfered with their effort to pass
along their heritage culture to their children. For example, Chrystal, a Korean American mother,
spoke about her limited knowledge and experience of her Korean culture, stating, “I was born
and raised here so I myself don't quite know everything (laughs) and I know that I probably
forgot a lot… So, it is only natural that my daughter, she's not gonna get much exposure than I
did. I think, with each generation, culture gets diluted.”
Lauren, a Chinese American mother, shared her experience of looking up resources
together with her eight-year-old daughter when she asked her questions about their heritage
culture. She stated the following:
She learns a lot at school from her teachers about our culture and so we haven't. She
actually knows more about our culture then I do at this point (laughs) about the Chinese
culture and traditions. I'll try to answer her questions, but usually we just look it up
because she asks pretty complex questions about traditions.
Struggle with ethnic identity. Participants noted their own struggle with their ethnic
identity as second-generation Asian Americans. Olivia, a Korean American mother, recalled
feeling embarrassed about her ethnic group membership, stating, “Before it was like, I wish I
could blend in, or, in essence, be White. And how can I minimize my Koreanness because I'm so
either anti-Korean or just like embarrassed.” She continued and noted her sense of shame
attached to lacking fluency in Korean as a Korean American, stating, “It was like, well, you must
not be Korean because you don't speak Korean.” Similarly, Anna, a Korean American mother,
shared her experience of reflecting on her ethnic identity struggle as she observed that her son
was going into a similar path. Anna reflected further on her personal ethnic identity struggle and
shared that it was helping her to better understand her child’s identity struggle:
I didn’t think he would be at the age where he would like, refuse to be like, doesn't want
to associate with and deny his identity as Korean, but he was doing that, being
antiKorean and all. And, and I get where he is coming from, because I was like that and I
was a kid thinking those things like, ‘Oh, I don't want to be Korean. I'm American.’… I
do let him know that we are, we are Korean um... I do want him to think differently than I
did, though.
Struggle with bicultural identity. A theme of bicultural identity struggle emerged in
participants’ narratives. Nancy, a Chinese/Taiwanese American mother, spoke about her
childhood experience of not fitting in, stating. “I definitely didn't fit in with the Asians, but I also
didn't fit in with like the White kids, either.” Anna, a Korean American mother of a six-year-old
boy and a partner of an immigrant from South Korea, reported her struggle with grasping the
idea of holding onto two cultural identities, stating, “My husband reminded me that, we might
just be our own, you know, just Korean American and Asian American. But before, I just wanted
to be American… and I still do sometimes. I feel more American than Korean because I grew up
here and I speak English better.” Olivia, a Korean American mother, also shared her struggle in
balancing both American and Korean identities, stating, “When we were in [name of the country]
we were still trying to upkeep our Americanness, you know. So I feel like Korean culture was,
like, two, three things back.” With regard to her bicultural identity, Olivia also shared her sense
of “belonging on the fringe” when speaking about her experience of teaching bicultural identity
to her five-year-old daughter, who shared a similar struggle with Korean identity. She stated the
following:
She doesn’t speak Korean, but she is Korean, you know. And being confused about that,
just like I was. And helping her navigate, like, with not belonging. And how will I help
my daughter understand, like, ‘No, you're still Korean. I know you can't speak to them
(referring to other Korean-speaking peers) during recess sometimes, but it doesn't mean
that that's not who you are.’ Like, having those kinds of conversations…
Anna, a Korean American mother, also shared a similar experience in teaching her six-year-old
son about his bicultural identity, who is not fully grasping the idea that speaking only English
doesn’t necessarily change his Korean identity. She stated, “I tell him, ‘You're American, but
you're also Korean.’ We have that discussion and he, I guess, he can’t differentiate between like,
an American and a lot of ethnicities. Korean is just Korean speakers to him.”
Interview Process
During the follow-up interviews, participants reported their challenges in talking about
race and culture with the interviewer, but also shared positive changes in their view about race-
and culture-related communications. Two themes emerged: (a) fear and discomfort and (b) post
interview growth.
Fear and discomfort. When asked about their thoughts and feelings about the
interviews, participants reported their initial sense of fear and discomfort due to potential
judgment from the interviewer. Anna, a Korean American mother, stated, “I felt kind of like I
was snobby (laughs), like, in a sense that, like, ‘Oh, I went to college and I had different friends
who are not Korean, and I wanted to get outside of that.’ I kind of felt bad, and thought, ‘What if
she (referring to the interviewer) thinks that I'm ethnically snobby?’” Lauren, a Chinese
American mother, shared her initial sense of discomfort and spoke about her tendency to be
selfconscious when talking about race-related issues due to “negativity ingrained within her
mind” about race talk, which resulted from her parents’ prejudiced way of talking about other
racial groups.
Post interview growth. Participants noted increased awareness and interest in racial
ethnic socialization after the initial interview. They also shared their experiences of active racial-
ethnic socialization after the initial interview. During the follow-up interview, Lauren reported
her family discussion following a race-related incident that happened to her older child. She also
noted her increased effort in acknowledging the race component of a race-related incident,
stating, “We first laughed, but talked about how we could interpret this. We just jumped to that.
And even my husband and I also now have this mindset that we first identify as race and we
trickled down from there.”
Additionally, Nancy expressed her interest in future racial ethnic socialization with her
daughter, stating:
It's really interesting, because I think I didn't realize how little, it’s been kind of on and
off on my mind and it just came to the forefront about, like, how little I've thought
through this… Even though I don't really have, like, a very developed sense of how I
would communicate these things to my kid, but I’m definitely interested in knowing more
about it, and, and finding more resources, and like, talk to my friends more about these
things.
Chrystal also noted the conversation she had with her husband after the initial interview,
discussing “the differences between discrimination, prejudice, and racist” and about “more
nuanced racism,” as well as “how the media influences our perceptions about other racial
groups.” She also reported her first conversation with her five-year-old daughter about systemic
racism they heard from the radio. She reported:
There was a recent incident at Starbucks. You know, that was in the news about the two
Black men that were arrested because the, you know, the owner called on them… And
she was like, ‘What? What does that mean?’ You know? And I was like, So I just told her,
told her straight up. I said, ‘Two Black men got arrested just because they were sitting.’
You know? And I explained to her and we talked about how that wasn't fair. You know,
that's not right. And she, like a five-year-old, was like, ‘Why did they do that? Why did
the cops arrest? Are cops bad? They're, they're supposed to protect us.’ So, we talked
more, like I said, ‘We all make mistakes,’ and so on.
Chapter 5
Discussion
The purpose of the study was to gain an in-depth understanding about second generation
East Asian American mothers’ unique experiences and perceptions about race and racial-ethnic
socialization. Guided by the family systems theory and the critical race theory, the present study
aimed to focus its attention on the intergenerational influence on racial-ethnic socialization
practices by exploring their experiences of racial-ethic socialization, both as a child and as a
parent. It also explored the interaction of various individual, interpersonal, and macrosystemic
factors related to second-generation Asian American parents’ experiential knowledge of race,
racism, and culture within the family system. Six second-generation, East Asian American
mothers participated in two individual interviews, which were comprised of the initial and
follow-up interviews. The interviews prompted participants to reflect on their own upbringing
with immigrant parents, as well as the ways in which they transmit certain values and beliefs
about race, ethnicity, and culture to their child. The analysis resulted in seven overarching
themes that described how East Asian American parents understand and practice racial-ethnic
socialization with their children: (a) Asian American Experience of Race and Ethnicity, (b)
Racial Ethnic Socialization as a Child, (c) Ethnic Socialization Experiences as a Parent, (d)
Racial Socialization as a Parent, (e) Ambivalence about Racial Socialization, (f) Second
Generation Experience, and (g) Interview Process. In this chapter, limitations of the present
study are outlined and recommendations for future areas of research are explored.
Overview of the Results
The examination of intergenerational influence on racial-ethnic socialization practices is
crucial, especially within Asian American families, because of the value of interdependence
within the family (Park et al., 2010). Particularly, the second-generation Asian American
mothers in this study noted their parents’ active involvement in ethnic socialization for their
children, which indicated the level of intergenerational influence on parenting practices and their
communication about race, ethnicity, and culture. In this study, participants’ experiences of
racial-ethnic socialization as a child and as an adult suggested the intergenerational impact of
immigration on Asian American families’ (a) communication and non-communication about race
and (b) ambivalence toward racial socialization.
With regard to parents’ communication about race and culture, the results of the study
suggested that participants received negative stereotypical messages about other racial groups
from their immigrant parents, which promoted mistrust of people from other racial groups. The
finding was supported by a previous study which highlighted that ethnic minority parents,
especially those of Chinese descent, in comparison to parents with European backgrounds,
tended to tell their children that certain racial/ethnic groups should not be trusted (Huynh &
Fuligni, 2008). The second-generation mothers in the study interpreted the influence of
immigration as a reason for negative parental messages about other racial groups. Participants
appeared to understand that their parents experienced more severe or frequent racial
discrimination because of their nativity status (Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2008), which, in turn,
emphasized the need for caution in interracial interactions. First-generation Asian immigrant
parents’ lack of experience in a racially and ethnically diverse society possibly led to mistrust of
other racial groups (Huynh & Fuligni, 2008). On the other hand, immigrant parents might have
been exposed to the hierarchical order of races that is prevalent in the United States back in their
country of origin, well before immigration, having stereotypes and prejudices against people of
other races, which then led to a preference for in-group connections (Fennel, 2013).
Participants’ experiences of negative parental messages about other racial groups had an
influence on their perceptions of race-related conversations with their own children. More
specifically, parental concerns about transmitting negative racial stereotypes in their racial
socialization efforts appeared to diminish organic opportunities to facilitate constructive
racerelated communication with their children. Participants in the study valued the importance
of racial socialization, many of them describing their experiences of conversations about race
with their children, which is a significant contrast to the ways in which their parents
communicated about race with them. However, participants also expressed fear of instilling
ideas about racial inequality and racial discrimination by opening up lines of communication
about race. This fear might have resulted from their immigrant parents’ racial socialization
practices, producing doubt and worries within the goal of racial socialization. Additionally,
participants’ experiences of internal conflict following their parents’ negative messages toward
outgroups, coupled with the cultural value of filial piety, might have prevented open, interactive
racerelated communication within the dynamics of immigrant parents and second-generation
children. The value of filial piety has weakened in modern society, while the value of work and
smaller family size has increased (Lum et al., 2016). It is evident, however, that the idea of
parental authority and child obedience has shaped second-generation participants’ childhood
interactions with their parents. Because of the hierarchical structure of Asian society, Asian
American children could not always speak their minds directly to their parents, but their parents
could express their thoughts in a rather straightforward way to their children, resulting in only
one-way direct communication within the family. This hierarchical pattern of communication
limited the opportunities for second-generation children to understand, early on, how their
immigrant parents came to develop such negative views toward outgroups. Also, these children
could not share with their parents how their own racial experiences had been similar or different.
The lack of two-way communication about race may have particularly influenced second-
generation participants’ ambivalence and fear about race-related communication with their
children, because of the uncertainty of how race-related communication might play out in their
parent-child dynamics.
In addition to discussing the effects of parental communication about race, participants
also noted the impact of silence and non-communication about race in childhood. They noted, in
detail, the possible influence of immigration on their parents’ non-communication, which was
brought to their awareness after their childhood. Experience of immigration brings numerous
changes to family, in terms of adjustment to their minority status and understanding the systemic
racial hierarchy and power dynamics in the new society, i.e., between White culture and heritage
culture, and Asian American status within minority groups. Participants also spoke about
assimilation demands from their families, which might have promoted a dominant ideology of
colorblindness, leading to minimization of racial experiences that were already difficult for
immigrant parents to comprehend. As a result, non-communication about race transmitted an
implicit message that race-related communication is insignificant, leading to participants’ belief
that race-related communication is difficult to facilitate or inappropriate for children. The
transmitted perception that prevented participants from feeling comfortable about racial-ethnic
socialization might be related to an inherited colorblind ideology that deemphasized their racial
identities and experiences as a racial minority.
Moreover, participants’ narratives about their childhood experiences of race-related
communication with their parents imply that it has had limited focus in conversations about their
own race. Parental non-communication about race – and more specifically, about the
Asian race – might stem from the lack of experience and understanding of the Asian race in the
United States. Even though they might have experienced it on a daily basis, newly immigrated
parents of Asian descent may have had limited opportunities to develop awareness of the
experience of Asian Americans that comes with such racial political label including, but not
limited to, the model minority myth, tensions with other racial minority groups, and diversity
within the racial category. The racial term “Asian” in particular has encompassed a variety of
divergent Asian ethnic groups, which makes it difficult for first-generation immigrant parents to
relate to, because of their valuing of their ethnic identity and maintaining their ethnic culture
(Kibria, 2000). Thus, the concept of “Asian identity” or “Asian American identity” might have
had limited meaning for first-generation immigrant parents. The pan-Asian identity and the
plurality embedded in the racial label “Asian” might not have been fully embraced by the
immigrant parents, which then influenced their children’s understanding of their own racial and
ethnic identities.
The effect of parental non-communication on the practice of second-generation
racialethnic socialization was two-fold: (a) leading to increased motivation to do more racial
socialization, or (b) avoiding racial socialization, due to negative perceptions and worries about
race-related conversation. Some parents in the study acknowledged their understanding of the
importance of race-related communication with their children and highlighted the influence of
their childhood experiences of non-communication on their increased motivation for active,
intentional racial-ethnic socialization. Heightened motivation might also have been aided by
their awareness of their racial and ethnic identities, and of their race-related experiences. In
contrast to their parents’ limited knowledge and awareness of race-related issues,
secondgeneration parents have the knowledge, experience, and motivation to recognize and
understand their personal racial experiences and other systemic racial incidents that target
minorities in general. Immigrant parents’ non-communication and participants’ lack of racial
socialization experiences in childhood allowed second-generation parents to see the importance
of racialethnic socialization in their interactions with their children.
As much as second-generation parents tried to facilitate race-related communication with
their children, it appeared that the pattern of their childhood experiences of noncommunication
still influenced their current ambivalent views toward racial socialization. Participants’
narratives made clear their views of race-related conversation as “uncomfortable” and “not child-
appropriate,” leading them to refrain from taking a proactive stance in racerelated
communication with their children. It is important to note that participants in this study shared
their experiences of racial-ethnic socialization with their children ages five to eight, who had just
started to communicate their interest in racial and ethnic differences. Also, five out of six
participants were first-time mothers, which might explain their limited experience with and
knowledge about racial socialization. Given the children’s age range, it is understandable that
parents were concerned about the child appropriateness of race-related conversations.
Nonetheless, all six participants shared their experiences of engaging in race-related conversation
elicited by their children, e.g., the child’s experience of racial discrimination, and race-related
inquiries from the child, which demonstrate that these children are more than capable of
recognizing racial differences and discussing racial issues with their parents (Bigler,
Averhart, & Liben, 2003).
Aside from participants’ ambivalent views toward racial socialization, the added social
pressure of political correctness prevented their natural participation in race-related conversation
that would fulfill the goal of raising a socially conscious child. For example, participants’
avoidance of directly labeling racial groups in their conversation, or their discouragement of their
children using skin color-based racial terms in public, might unintentionally deliver a message
that talking about race is offensive. Political correctness might have narrowed their potential
range of conversation, putting boundaries around children’s natural curiosity and exploration of
race and racial differences at young age. The burdens and limitations of political correctness
resulted in parental discomfort, which in turn, hindered their children from speaking about racial
differences and prevented genuine conversation about racial differences as a family, which is
actually contrary to their desire for open communication with their children.
Participants in the present study revealed unique characteristics of racial-ethnic
socialization practiced by second-generation Asian American parents. These parents, similar to
their first-generation immigrant parents, practiced proactive ethnic socialization, to promote
cultural appreciation and healthy ethnic identity development. Participants expressed concern
about their lack of experience and knowledge in cultural traditions, history, and language.
However, participants actively employed external resources, e.g., language school and
grandparents, to help their children acquire cultural knowledge, experience, and identity. This
finding was supported by the second-generation dilemma mentioned in the study of Juang, Park,
Kim, Lee, Qin, Okazaki, Swartz, and Lau (2018), indicating second-generation Asian American
parents’ difficulties in passing along heritage culture due to their perceived lack of knowledge in
their heritage culture.
Additionally, second-generation parents in this study shared their race-related
communication that involved messages about racial discrimination. In contrast to their
immigrant parents, second-generation parents emphasized preparing their children for racial bias
and discrimination. Participants in the study shared their experience of internalized racism and
lack of communication about race-related issues growing up, which led them to value parental
messages and involvement in preparing their children for potential bias and discrimination. The
racial discrimination experience of the second-generation Asian Americans appeared to be
significant, having a great impact on parenting. Based on their experience, awareness, and
knowledge about their personal and societal racism, second-generation parents were more active
in informing their children about potential racial discrimination and teaching them how to deal
with racism in everyday life.
Moreover, participants’ narratives evidenced the second-generation parents’ emphasis on
promotion of diversity and inclusion in their parenting efforts. Participants in the study actively
sought out ways to increase diversity exposure for their children and to teach them to value
inclusion. The finding shares similarities to second-generation Asian American parents in Juang
et al.’s (2018) study emphasizing diversity and inclusion with the perception of their children as
“global citizens.” The parenting emphasis on diversity doubtlessly reflects the needs of our
society at present. This broad focus on diversity, however, might function as a mechanism to
minimize race, racial differences, and racial injustice, unintentionally transmitting the colorblind
ideology so prevalent in contemporary society.
Another noteworthy finding about second-generation parents’ racial-ethnic socialization
involved their struggles with bicultural identity. Benet-Martinez, Leu, Lee, and Morris (2002)
defined biculturalism as the experience of having or internalizing two cultures, usually one’s
ethnic heritage culture and the mainstream culture. They also indicated that individuals with low
integration feel conflicted between their two cultural identities and prefer to keep them separate,
while individuals with high bicultural identity integration perceive their two cultural identities as
largely compatible and complementary (Benet-Martinez et al., 2002). Some second-generation
Asian American parents in the present study noted their lack of healthy integration of both ethnic
and American identities growing up, while, more positively, their difficulties allowed them to
better understand their children’s struggles in the bicultural identity development process.
According to participants’ narratives about their race- and culture-related communication in
childhood, parental encouragement about assimilation into the mainstream culture often came at
the expense of their ethnic traditions and values. A sense of cultural conflict caused by the
parental message may have arisen in the face of ethnic/racial discrimination from the mainstream
American group, as it may be difficult for bicultural individuals to embrace the very culture that
perpetuates discrimination against their cultural group (Choi, Tan, Yasui, & Pekelnicky, 2014).
Additionally, the second-generation parents’ experiences of foreigner objectification presumably
posed an added challenge to their bicultural identity integration, leaving them with a sense of not
belonging anywhere. As a result, participants’ struggles with bicultural identity presumably led
to limited, succinct conversations about it with their children, not being fully confident to
emphasize the value of both cultures.
Implications for Theory and Practice
The findings of the present study have several implications for theory and practice. First,
the themes that emerged in the study highlighted the intergenerational influence of immigration,
racism, and cultural values on racial-ethnic socialization practices within Asian American
families. Although several studies pointed out the aforementioned factors in the lives of Asian
